Scars of a Broken Mirror
by obsidian dreamer
Summary: At the time of greatest joy, horror returns to haunt the Chaotix; with his tower of strength crumbled and his most hated secret revealed, can he still be saved from himself? Continuation from The Joys of Hearth and Home.
1. Chapter 1 A Christmas Tinged Crimson

**Scars of a Broken Mirror.**

A/N: First off, standard warning – lawyers I own nothing so sue me, I dare you!

Well, here we are then, a point I never thought I'd made, the DFF (Double-Figure Fiction); starting this newest link in the chain of my series so far makes the total up to ten! A brief moment of celebration is in order, but only a brief one as, even before this fic begins, I'll just re-iterate the shadowed warning I left at the end of The Joys of Hearth and Home.

This fic will deal with matters that my other works haven't touched in any great detail; it will be a lot darker – for now I'm content to give it a T-rating but please be aware, even before you start reading, that some of the subjects and emotions resonating in this latest work are borderline M-rating. If this makes you nervous or offends, or if you think after reading I should increase the rating according, please let me know immediately.

Also, if you've just clicked into this fic on a whim, be aware that you're really launching yourself in off the high-dive right in with the sharks (and hedgehogs, which are worse); this is the tenth fiction in a series that began a long, long time ago. In full, the series now reads as follows: Angel of Darkness and Ice – The Best Medicine – A Bloodstone Rose – Iron Skin, Golden Heart – Lose Your Illusions – Psyche Out – Friends and Lovers – A Pair of Second Chances – The Joys of Hearth and Home and now this one, Scars of a Broken Mirror.

A big shout-out to my dedicate cadre of readers/reviewers, hope you still like what you're seeing, and to all the newcomers who've just joined up. So that's it, I've said my piece – strap yourselves in, it's going to be one agonising ride.

Every show has its act of tragedy…

Chapter 1 – A Christmas Tinged Crimson. 

It was a week or so before Christmas Day itself, the magical time when everyone, even those who consider themselves old enough to know and act better, simply cannot resist themselves and let their hair down, when in one particular house in the suburbs of Echidnopolis, a deadly silence fell.

Silence in itself isn't that unusual; it's simply an absence of noise that, while getting rarer in the world, is still present if you search for it hard enough – no, what was unusual about this silence was the house it had descended upon. If anything, a single three-bedroom property holding so many Mobians at once, least of all ones who appeared to be in the middle of some fairly intensive and, in a couple of cases, reckless interior decoration was not a likely target for a deathly hush, but even above and beyond this to anyone who knew them even as moderate acquaintances would have been the first to admit without hesitation that the quartet of Mobians who actually owned the property itself were nothing like the type to take quiet as a regular guest into their premises.

But then again, those who actually knew the very recent history of the Chaotix and the events that had unfolded within the last week or so were probably not that surprised that, when the head of the former detective agency and the youngest representative of their current employers came eye to eye once more, there was more than a little tension in the air. As the teleporter in the basement finally finished crackling and the two latest arrivals appeared in the main hallway, and as the expression of the crocodile who had recently been working in that hallway suddenly set itself into stone as he glowered menacingly at one of the couple, everyone else silently set down with what they were doing and moved quickly and soundlessly to try and snag a ringside seat to the action that was certain to be unfolding any time now.

XXX

_Now then_; despite the very obvious fact that there was a six-foot-something escapee from Jurassic Park looking like he was getting ready to spit out some serious fireworks barely an arms-length away from her, Rouge found herself more wistfully annoyed than outright terrified as Vector growled, his furious eyes…the bat had to suddenly bite back a laugh; _only you could get that into the spirit of things Vec._ His eyes were actually not their normal colour at all, instead it looked like he was wearing skilfully painted contact lenses, because of which there were a pair of nice Christmas tarts laid out on a baking tray resting at the bottom of his pupils, diminishing his otherwise fearsome demeanour as he smiled wickedly, exposing his rows of serrated teeth,

"Well I've heard of being pie-eyed but that really takes the biscuit Vec", she remarked with a carefree grin, hefting the bag she'd brought with her as offering it to her, "go on then, even I can take a hint that obvious". He switched his attention to her at the comment, now appearing more quizzical than outright outraged,

"Huh?"

"In here", she flicked her foot up, tapping to bottom of the bag with her toes as she sensed Knuckles moving behind her; _you better be thinking of a way to say sorry or believe me I will make your sorry hide sorrier than it's ever been in its whole sorry existence_; even as her mind raced, however, the former spy was able to keep her expression open and honest, "managed to get a spot of baking done last time we were in Haven; don't worry though", raising her voice, Rouge looked past where Vector was now taking a cautious peek into the top of the bag itself to greet another of the remaining Chaotix and one of the other two guests who'd been roped into this decorating spree, "I made enough for all of us". There was a muffled snort of laughter as two semi-metallic arms folded over each other, Julie-Su nodding at her friend from the end of hallway even as she sought to hone the cutting edge of her tongue against Rouges',

"I'll believe that when I see it", she shook her head, dreadlocks swaying as all present heard Vector smack his lips, "when was the last time you saw him eat?" _Oi_; a little stung by this, the crocodile looked over his shoulder at where the ex-Dark Legionnaire stood just behind Charmy, resting a sprig of tinsel between the bee's antennae as he was folding his lips and screwing his face up at her comment, trying not to laugh,

"An' yer one talk are ya? Bust-the-moves", he gave a contemptuous toss of his head as Julie's eyes flashed at the mention of the work-out programme she used to keep fit, the colour of her irises as usual indeterminable, "more like Bust-ya-blood-vessels".

There was no hope at that one; the bee in front of her simply collapsed sniggering, turning even as he broke down with one hand outstretched, trying to ward off any aggression for Julie's direction with a spluttered,

"Sorry". The echidna glared at him, arms unfolded and, he knew from experience, a lot stronger than they appeared to be thanks to her technocratic former home's penchant for upgrading the biological template of its members. _She's probably the strongest here out the lot of us, even including Vector_; a sudden clammy sweat prickled at his back, humour evaporating to leave behind distinct unease as Julie tapped her fingers together, sizing him up as though trying to decide which limb to rip off first; _what we really need to cope with her is Mighty, and right now she's in Scotland_.

"Not yet you're not", she whispered under her breath, Charmy thanking his lucky stars he'd been able to get away with just a warning this time as the former Legionnaire raised her voice to answer the crocodile, more of a questioning note in her tone this time around,

"Keep that sort of talk up and you'll be wishing it was just blood-vessels I'm breaking, 'cause they'll be yours", Vector simply grinned and, knowing she was unable to stare him out without smiling in kind, despite repeated attempts at trying, she moved onto the meat of her issue, grateful a second later to hear another voice back her up in this, "and what's with the daggers at Knuckles?"

"Yeah", finally finished with hanging the last line of tinsel down the stairway, a task that super-speed really did not lend itself towards too kindly, Julie's flatmate suddenly appeared at the other end of the hallway, boxing Vector and the guardians in, "I knew from Tails something had gone down but he never said what, neither did Sonic too when I rang him, amazing as that might sound". Knuckles span around and stared agape as the ebon figure made himself comfortable on the bottom trio of stairs he'd recently been pounding with tinsel, holly and sticky-tape in arms,

"Sonic, keeping his mouth shut", as Shadow nodded the guardian chuckled, shucking off his coat and holding his hand out to accept his wife's as Rouge began to tug at a stuck zipper, "man, this really is the season of miracles then".

"And if you don't tell me, or in fact us", Julie cut in, indicating both herself and the hedgehog with whom she shared a flat in another district of the city, "what's been happening you'll be needing another of those miracles to get out of this house in one piece. I don't care who does the talking, just someone spill it".

_Okay, this is going to be awkward_; everyone who knew about that incident, and had indeed planned and executed it in one case and fallen for it in another, knew that this was going to have to come out and, even as his body once more gave a phantom moan of pain as it recalled just how much it had suffered at the hands of Mighty's misguided rage, somehow Vector just knew they were going to end up laughing at his expense. His hand crunched the top of the bag Rouge had brought with her, the crinkling of the paper helping to bring his mind back to reality with a start, and in a flash of inspiration the crocodile realised a potential way out of this sticky situation,

"Urr, right, le's get this over with. Everyone, kitchen, Charm get the kettle brewin'", recognising the unofficial head of the Chaotix using the tone of voice that made it clear any disputing of orders would probably be resolved by pistols at dawn as soon as the guests left, the bee wisely kept his mouth shut and shuffled past Julie into the kitchen; Vector heard the click of the kettle as he beckoned the three Mobians in front of him in,

"Right, everyone in and siddown; might as well have a bit of a brew 'fore we get the two big one tackled, we've already done better'an I thought we'd do. So, cuppa each, coupla these good-looking mince pies each", his tone was so complimentary Rouge couldn't help but smile and squirm in acute embarrassment even as the crocodile suddenly speared his glance over her shoulder at Knuckles, voice dropping through the floor as he did so, "an' a few death-glares between us, should set us up good'n proper". _Some more than others_; even as the thought crossed his mind he mentally clapped himself on the back for coming up with the brainstorm of having the contacts specially made and inked over for this time of year – he didn't have any problems with his vision of course, but by wearing them he'd made perfectly sure that no-one could even attempt to see through his eyes and glean any ideas about the multitude of revenge schemes boiling away at the back of his brain; the fact that it was all in the Christmas tradition also saved him from any bothersome questions that might have otherwise arisen about his latest fashion accessory. In fact he was so focussed on self-congratulation it was only when Shadow knocked his elbow he remembered the basic duties of hosting guests and stood to the side,

"Sorry dude, lost in thought fer'a sec".

"Not a problem", the former ultimate life-form assured him; he waited until the last vestige of Knuckles' tail had disappeared around the jamb of the kitchen door before continuing in a low whisper, "just my own suspicions of course, but I reckon this is something to do with Mighty – right or wrong?" The hedgehog's expectant smile suddenly turned upside-down and he scuttled back a few paces as Vector reared up; funny eye-ware or not, he was a threatening sight when he wanted to be,

"Lissen 'ere pal, I've gotta say this 'ole thing once an' I'm only sayin' it once, got me drift? O' course"; _salvation_; a dark, devious thought crossed his mind and he pounced on it, grinning craftily as he leaned down lower to Shadow's ear level, "I might give ya'bit o' a sneak-peak so long as I can play that famous tape o'yours over dinner". A pair of crimson eyes crossed for a second before bursting into flame along with the rest of Shadow's face; glowering malevolently, the hedgehog gritted his teeth; _if you have I'll kill you – as far as I'm concerned no-one except you, me and Jules need know what I said in that bar that night, and the only reason I know is because she gave me the tape after raking me over the coals for the better part of a fortnight! I was drunk, how was I supposed to remember what I'd said!_;

"I swear if you've made copies of that…"

"I 'aven't", Vector assured him, turning around to head towards the kitchen, "I'm no' that cruel – what 'appens next is between you an' her, an' since yer still flat-sharin' I assume nuthin's too far out o'joint". Muttering under his breath about the augmented echidna always attempting to put several things out of joint, his nose chiefly among them literally as well as figuratively, Shadow dogged the reptile's heels into the kitchen, the last of his blush thankfully just about fading before the echidna he'd come to both respect and, in some ways, admire became aware of it and used it to make his life miserable again. _Though even if she did_; the thought occurred to him as naturally as breathing; he and Julie were continually one-upping and point-scoring over each other with jokes, pranks, innuendoes and, very occasionally, surprise presents and treats – the continual challenge to get one-over on each other was one of the main reasons they got on together so well;_ there's always that time her gym shorts ripped while she was in the middle of those squat-thrusts…revenge is such a delicious dish, as long as you're not the one it's being served to._

XXX

"_Knuckles?!_" Shadow's voice was halfway between admonition and astonishment at the echidna's audacity as the guardian finally came clean about what he'd used to replace the surprise present Vector had planted in Mightys' travel bag just before she jetted off to see the rest of her family over the festive period with her boyfriend very happily in tow, "that's just…just…" He couldn't think of the word for what it was but apparently Julie had an idea, or she had once she'd finally managed to choke down her outright hysterics and regained the capacity for speech at least,

"That's gold, sorry Vec", the crocodile said nothing, merely glaring impassively as the mechanised echidna shook her head, light catching in her mechanical dreadlock and dazzling those present for a split-second as it swung in the light of the kitchen, "oh boy, and you told her where it was after all?"

"No", the reptile grated back at her, noticing Shadow still looking at his most hated friend dumbstruck with awe and calming his emotions with plotting about how good that revenge was going to feel when the time came, "I told 'er where the book we got'er was; 'ow was I s'posed to know Knucklehead over there 'ad switched 'em? So 'course, Might goes out an'as a shufti; next thing any of us know she's jus' missed turnin' Tails two-D wi'the kitchen door and pointin' at me like I'm next. Which I was", he added, cringing at the reminder of what had happened shortly afterwards when the enraged armadillo had turned her gargantuan strength on him, dragging him into the living room in order to sate her misguided revenge cravings, "she said she'd rip me tail off an' throttle me with it, an' she weren't too far wrong neither. The whole joint-lockin' kata, all of it", even now his body moaned at the abuse it had suffered and he grimaced, flexing pins-and-needles out of one of his wrists, just about managing to finish the sore tale for the sake of his less-than-sympathetic audience, "an' not a beat missed I'cun tell ya".

"Well what can I say, she had a good teacher", Knuckles cut in with a broad grin, though he reined it in under the wrathful eye of both his unofficial employee and his wife, speaking with more than a hint of abashment in his tone as he finished the story as only he could, "but yeah, she finished laying down the proverbial smack on TGG over there, then stomped back into the kitchen and Tails, being as smart as he is bless him, cottoned on quickly that she wanted to get a move on. So off they go while we sort of slope into the lounge to see what she'd left of Vec; the answer was nothing pretty…"

"Not that he was ever that to start with", Charmy chipped in, ducking behind Julie as Vector snarled and lunged at him; fortunately for the cheeky bee, the former Legionnaire was able to grab and grapple both his hands, holding them just about at bay as she gasped while grinning sorely with the effort,

"Sorry Vec, I want to hear the rest of this", still giving Charmy the evil eye, the head of the Chaotix gradually lessened the pressure and returned to his seat, though his bad mood was broken slightly by the wink the echidna sent his way, "you can beat him up later". Vector grinned as Charmy gulped and attempted to look belatedly innocent,

"Suits me dame; but anyway", he launched himself back into the story, Knuckles wisely falling quiet as he took up the slack, "yeah I'm there lyin' on me front 'til batgirl stamps down on me tail", he sent a scowl Rouge's way, though it softened after a second, his next words tinged with a sigh, "but I can't really blame 'er; far as anyone knew I'd jus' dropped an absolute clanger on Might's shell from a bloody great height an' was payin' fer it fair an' square. Bitta confusion after that, everyone thought I knew what'ad 'appened, though 'course I wuz in the dark – wasn't 'til frilly whispered in me ear what she'd found that we all figured it out, some more than others".

"Well I had to come clean in the end didn't I?"; _even if I had a bit of a laugh stringing you along in the process_; Knuckles thought secretly, masking a smile – sometimes he wished he had been able to snag his camera phone in time to take a snap of Vector's face when he'd finally admitted his secret after sticking up for the crocodile for so long in the face of everyone else's extreme disbelief, "but I said it was me, and why, so as far as I'm concerned we're even; you can't play jokes with the Master Emerald and expect to get away with it scaly, sorry but that's just the way it is".

"Even huh?" To the surprise of all Vector sighed, looking rather more contented than angry at Knuckles' assumption that the grudge between the two of them was finally settled, "well it's not me ya gotta worry 'bout really Knucks; it's 'er". At the reminder the guardian sighed, looking down into his mug of tea as though trying to see a way of avoiding that eventual, and probably for him very painful, eventuality,

"She knows already at least; gave her a text that she should have got when she landed, and phoned her later that night, just got through. Besides", he shot a mutinous glance out the corner of his eyes, Rouge simply avoiding it with a shrug and toss of her head, "I've already paid some of it off at least – she kicked me out for two nights and days, and it was ruddy cold at the shrine at the time, I didn't even get a blanket out of sympathy – some loving wife you are". Rouge folded her arms at him, hints of her fangs showing as she rose to his challenge,

"Hey, partner you might be but you mess with my friends that's a different kettle of fish; you deserved that, and a good deal more – Mighty was trying to push for a whole week but, in the end, I just couldn't stick it that long…hey", movement from the corner of her eye made the bat start; looking over she saw Charmy stand up and head towards the kitchen door, "where you off to?" The bee chuckled, lightly punching Vectors shoulder as he moved past the seated crocodile,

"Knew something was missing from this picture, scaly just reminded me what it was". Everyone swapped mystified glances, trying to work out what the bee was talking about until he allayed all suspicions; reaching the kitchen door, Charmy toed it open, stuck his head around it and called out,

"Hey Esp, tea's up; come get some before you freeze up there".

XXX

There was a succession of enlightened look and sudden realisations around the table as everyone heard the name, Shadow actually speaking out loud before he could control his tongue,

"Thought there was something missing from the picture". As Charmy returned to take his seat once more Rouge gave a sigh, looking at him long-sufferingly,

"Did you have to? There we were, all friends together, then you had to give the old wet-blanket an invitation to spoil it all".

"I don't know you know, he is getting a bit better, slowly", the bee conceded the last word grudgingly at the bat's expression of profound scepticism which wasn't, he admitted to himself, entirely lacking in merit; _though come on, give him his due, he was really good to me when I was laid up with the 'flu_; "he pretty much put himself at my beck and call when I was on my death-bed a few weeks back". At the mention, Vector brightened momentarily,

"True, 'e's not a complete frost-heart, 'though speakin' o'you bein' not at yer best", glancing at the door as he heard the characteristic thump of someone coming down the stairs, Vector went for it; beckoning all present into a bit of a huddle, the crocodile unearthed his suspicions in a hurried whisper, "don't tell Esp bu' I reckon sumthin's not right wi'him, been a bit off-colour recently, no pun intended". Unfortunately his slight slip had caused one or two of his audience to have to stifle smiles in a manner that, when the kitchen door swung open once more, the chameleon it revealed had every reason to suspect something less than complimentary was afoot. Speaking in a measured, level tone, Espio quickly decided it was probably not worth his effort trying to work out the cause of the mirth; _much easier just to pay back those responsible later_;

"By all means keep laughing, don't let me stop you", as he sloped towards the kitchen countertop and reached for a clean cup, Julie finally plucked up the courage to put into words the suspicion she'd had on first sight of the recalcitrant member of the original Chaotix trio,

"Umm, Esp?" The chameleon paused but didn't look over his shoulder as the augmented echidna finished her fledgling sentence, "are you wearing a jumper?"

In all honesty, Julie would freely admit later, it was a redundant question; it was immediately obvious to anyone with half an eye that yes, Espio did indeed have a thick pullover covering his normally bare scales – however, even if the question itself was redundant there was no denying that it was necessary to set up the question she really wanted answering, even if it did leave her open for retaliation from the misanthropic Mobian's acid-drenched sense of sarcasm,

"Indeed I am", everyone saw the frill at the back of his head rise slightly as he looked down at himself, "though before you ask your next question I'll let you know for free that this is in no way any kind of fashion statement".

"What is it then?" Only now did he glance at her, a slitting smile on his lips that made Julie instinctively bristle – just like he could with virtually everyone else she knew, Espio could wind her up royally,

"You really don't know much about reptiles do you Julie?" _No, not right now_; even this close to Christmas it seemed the chameleon couldn't let a chance to pick a fight slip – trying to work out a way to resolve the forthcoming disagreement without resorting to sarcasm, name-calling or first blood, Vector hit on a solution just a second too late to stop Julie launching the next cannonade at his team mate, her words backed up the unanimous nods and murmurs from everyone else, himself included,

"No I don't, and if you're anything to judge them by I'm really glad I know next to nothing about chameleons; crocodiles on the other hand", Vector raised an eyebrow he didn't actually have as the former Legionnaire looked him up and down before a wry smile touched her lips, "well, the jury's still out". Thinking quickly, Vector pounced on the ensuing second's silence to both get his point across and break up the mushrooming argument between arguably the two most determined and self-sufficient Mobians present in the room,

"Well luckily fer you, Esp's 'bout the only chameleon on Angel Island at the minute, so ya gotta bitta breathin' space on that count; second, the reason 'e's dredged old Aunties' woolly-pulley out the back of 'is closet it 'cause it's winter time. Me an' 'im both need heat to work right; we're only as 'ot as our surroundin's, tha's why we 'ave to 'ave the central up so 'igh or we'd both freeze our tails off". Julie gazed at the crocodile bemused before shifting her stare towards Shadow; as the black hedgehog held up his hands as though they could ward off her curious eyes, the echidna spoke in a calculating tone,

"Hmm, that so? Is it just my imagination or do I distinctly remember you telling me reptiles need sunlight to get their blood flowing?"

"Well they get most of their heat from the sun", Shadow explained, fighting his corner and given a helping hand in that regard by Vector nodding as Julie glanced over, "but as we all know, that's a pretty rare commodity these days".

"I suppose", she settled back, looking a little more mollified after his explanation before suddenly her eyebrows shot up; she turned to the crocodile again but before she could speak the other echidna present beat her to the proverbial punch,

"So how come you're not covered up?"

"Thicker skin", Vector grunted before brightening up a touch and leering forward over the table, "sumthin' yer'll need fer when Mighty cops 'old of yer'gain".

"Yes, please don't keep reminding me", Knuckles asked in his friendliest voice that still allowed a half-decent measure of threat in for the ride, "I'll cross that hurdle when I come to it, unpleasant as it may be when that time comes. Hey, no green tea?"

_What?_; even by Knuckles' standards that had been a pretty random comment; it was only when he heard the characteristic of a chair squeaking back into place under the table that Vector realised the guardian hadn't been addressing him,

"Yes, we have some but", glancing down for a second, Espio's expression fell into a troubled set that made the other two Chaotix swap a glance – admitting to discomfort at all, however pressing the source of it might have been, was a rare thing indeed for the self-styled ninja trainee, "I'm not in the mood for it at the moment".

"Why not? You usually can't get enough of the stuff"; _though how is a bit beyond me_; even the memory of a pale green liquid washing over her taste-buds like weak dishwater made Rouge grimace; _even with sugar that stuff tastes like boiled grass. Wow_; only her former professionalism at being able to think one thing and say another with her face and body kept Rouge from giving the game away at her surprise that she was going to get a second sentence out of the reptile sat before her – obviously he was in a talkative mood,

"I'm not sure; I feel, if anything, warmer than I should do; don't bother", he turned to snap lack-lustrely at where Charmy had slipped one hand into the other, ready to pull his glove off, "you won't feel anything through my scales; they're designed to keep heat in after all. Take my word for it, I'm not feeling quite at my best, though admittedly", he conceded with a shrug of his shoulders, "nowhere near as rough as you must have been". The bee nodded vigorously, shuddering at even his fevered, half-delusional memories of the fits of periodic insomnia and virtual catatonia he'd been forced to go through while the virus that had struck him down worked its deadly reproductive methods all over his body,

"Just as well, Vec's back is probably smoother than I was feeling", he admitted before clapping his hands together, his natural cheeriness immediately banishing the bad mood that had blown over the table since Espio had arrived; chugging back the remainder of his drink, the bee clinked his mug back onto the table and stood up, "still, probably be gone by Christmas. Anyway, rest of you shirkers drink up and back to work; just an hour or so more and we'll be done completely".

"Amen to that", Knuckles seconded, likewise coming to his feet, "right, just sort out the smaller bedroom we were working on and then we'll meet you two in the lounge, provided you can keep your hands off each other long enough that is".

"Hey", despite the stifled sniggers around the table Shadow's answering growl was a lot less warning than his flatmate's Look, "it's not my fault she makes me want to throttle her every time she opens her mouth".

"Yeah, and give him credit, he's got better", Julie seemed to back his acceptation up though somehow the black hedgehog couldn't help but wonder that there was a catch coming here, "I only feel the urge to rip his head off in two scenarios now; when he does something and when he says something". _Like I didn't see that coming – brace yourself Jules – incoming_; unfortunately before he could unleash his latest broadside a thick green knuckle rapped the tabletop sharply and Vector's voice addressed them both sternly,

"Well be that as it may, you two said you'd 'elp us get ready, so 'elp us ya will, got it? Fair's fair after all; we gave you 'and wi'yer decoratin'". The argument broken before she could really get any impetus behind it, Julie shrugged at an opportunity missed,

"I suppose you did, if you count reading a paper and bankrupting our supplies of coffee as help, you did. Still, from what Blackie over there tells me, this Christmas thing everyone on the world below celebrates should be something to look forwards to".

Though her comment sounded decidedly naive to anyone who hadn't lived on Angel Island all their life, the mood around the Chaotix's table was a good deal more forgiving for the simple reason that, up until now, Julie-Su had never a real Christmas. She, along with the rest of the population of Echidnopolis, had only relatively recently returned from a hidden limbo created by Knuckles' earliest ancestor, the first guardian Edmund, and his nemesis Dimitri, the original lord of the technocratic Dark Legion and thus were still learning about the world they had emerged into. The lands below, as the citizens of Angel Islands' now flourishing capital city Echidnopolis commonly referred to the other inhabited areas of the planet, were very much a mystery to the entire echidna civilisation and as such knowledge of their customs and religions was not very widespread, though word was spreading slowly. Fortunately Knuckles, due to his various adventures with the rest of his friends, and Julie due mostly to Shadow's influence, were slightly more experienced than most of their fellows, though Shadow had yet to stop smirking every time he mentioned the time in Station Square where his echidna flatmate had pulled up short and outright gawked at the spectacle of seeing a fox with only one tail – up until that point she simply hadn't realised that Miles Prower was the exception, rather than the general rule, in that regard. _Still, that really didn't stop her taking to this idea of Christmas, even if she did have to blow a lot of her annual leave on it_; glancing sidelong, Shadow completed his thought as he stood up from the table; _mind you, I sat through that Eve of Reaffirmation or whatever it was with her, and my taste-buds have yet to regrow from whatever spices were in that stew she cooked up then._ Shuddering at the memory of what must have been his mouths' most painful moment, the former ultimate life-form casually slapped his empty cup down on the draining board with everyone else's, stretched up for a minute and then, making a show of muttering under his breath threats that he didn't really mean or feel, grudgingly crossed over the floor to where Julie had already disappeared; _come on, it won't be that bad – just get the lounge done and the job is, as they say, a good'un_.

XXX

"I gotta say it batgirl", Rouge looked up as her workmate straightened up from where he'd been bent over a half-unpacked box of Christmas decorations, "one 'ell of a system you thought up 'ere".

"A matter of expediency more than anything else", she replied, giving her own smile as she watched Vector casually heft the heavy porcelain Santa Claus up to a vertical base with one hand and unscrew the top of a jar of brightly-wrapped sweets with the other, "last thing I needed was you and my other half working anywhere near each other – I reckon it'd be a bit much to ask for a second resurrection, even at Christmas". The crocodile chuckled, tipping the confectionary into the empty bag of presents that the effigy of Saint Nicolas had slung over one shoulder, filling it full to the brim before answering,

"Well, not only that"; _mostly, but not all of it_; once more he soothed his vengeance craving with predictions of what would be happening soon, "but I meant the 'ole she-bang; everyone chipped in, got the job done quick like, an' let us all plan what's 'appenin' come the twenty-fifth". Rouge pondered this for a second, one hand at her chin even as her wings let her rise off the floor for a moment, part of her mind occupied with his query at the same time the rest of it focussed on hanging a sprig of mistletoe above the hallway door,

"Hmm, well yes, I came up with the decorating bit, and I have to admit that was mostly for your benefit", try as she might the bat couldn't quite keep all the abashment off her face as she admitted that truth, though she was sure Vector was broadminded enough to let her rationalise it, "after all, compared to you guys the rest of us have got, what? One remote log cabin and a one-bedroom flat – hardly rocket science to get any of that spruced up, not compared to this place anyway, especially with Mighty gone AWOL". Vector held up a hand, shaking his head at the bat's assumption with a grin on his long, scaled jaws,

"Ah, ah, got it wrong there Red"; _why did I teach him a little French, why?_; once more Rouge found herself mentally kicking her own tail as she was subjected to hearing the English translation of her name – she just hadn't understood how well learning a different language was going to catch on, with Vector especially; _and because of that I end up with a name that makes me sound like a lumberjack hick!_; "she's not AWOL, she got permission fer goin', an' even if she 'adn't would you have wanted to say no?"

"Not unless I had a loudhailer and a good head start", the bat admitted before shaking her head and coming back down to earth, alighting on the carpet once more with a dainty tap, "but anyway, apart from that most of this was Lara's idea, and a good one it was too", for a second she glanced down, tone slightly more contrite as even after countless hours of rationalising her mother-in-law's perfectly reasonable suggestion for what to do on the big day itself she still felt a little guilty about her own desires, to be with friends rather than her in-laws for at least some of the holiday, "at least this way we can see both of them before the New Year, especially with Lara the way she is now".

Vector said nothing but nodded, a little moral support for the bat now as he realised this was going to be a big thing for both Rouge and the entirety of her husband's new-found family, restored to him when the rest of Angel Island had reappeared from its preservative exile. He, like the rest of the Chaotix, had been present when the guardians had finally tied the knot and he counted that memory as a privilege; however, as with all matters to do with love and the heart, the whole story wasn't quite as simple as that. Knuckles' mother Lara-Le, divorced from the guardian's father Locke after he had been forced to uphold the code of his ancestors and abandon their infant son to the mercies of the part of Angel Island that still existed in the real world, had since re-married and was now just starting the third trimester of her second pregnancy, she and her new husband Wynmacher waiting for the arrival of their new son Knecapeon. _Knecapeon, or Kneecaps_; even now after the formal dinner that had culminated in the revelation of the name of Knuckle's soon-to-be half-brother and, he remembered with a sniffle he only just managed to stifle in time, Tails' soon-to-be godson, the crocodile couldn't stop smiling at the irony; _man Lara's a cruel parent. But she's not a cruel family member so you_; he rolled his eyes down as where Rouge was still not quite back to her normal chirpiness; _have gotta stop beating yourself up babe._

"Hey", Rouge almost took off again in shock as almost without her realising it one of Vector's thick, olive green fingers had curled up under her chin, gently raising it up until she was looking directly into the pie-tins that counted for his eyes now, the rest of his words a gentle growl as he sought to put the bat more at ease, "no time for that this time o' year. Yer've got it all planned, 'eard Knucks talkin' about it earlier an' I think it's a bitta genius – you both get Christmas dinner wi'the two of them, then ya haul tail over 'ere to get wi'the rest of us when we get the game out. Should be a cracker this year, seven of us playin'", the crocodile shivered in anticipation before a small spark of gentle malice pointed out that, with his fingers where they were, now would be an excellent time to make someone else shiver as well; Rouge never stood a chance as suddenly Vector's hand whipped from under her chin to the top of her head – her knees virtually buckled as his fingertips ghosted over the thin membranes of her ears for a split-second before he mercifully withdrew, grinning maddeningly as she pulled herself back together with a vicious look in his direction,

"The rate you're going you won't make Christmas", she said sourly, though almost immediately she regretted her harsh tone and instead moved forwards, punching as high up the reptile's arm as she could reach in rough affection; _after all, he was only trying to cheer me up, and he succeeded_; "thanks though. Anyway, speaking of which, are you sure you lot don't want…?"

"Perfectly", the crocodile assured her with a raised hand, realising the question even before she finished it, "believe it or no' we'cun cook pretty good an' after all, it's the first time fer years we've actually invited anyone t'dinner, first time we've been able t'afford it". Rouge chuckled and shook her head before looking around – from the looks of things she and the head of the Chaotix were about done,

"Yeah, Charm mentioned last year for you lot was a budgie-with-a-chest-expander job".

"And he weren't lying", the crocodile assured her, patting his gut with a free hand as, having noticed the same thing Rouge had, he began to bend down and scoop up the plastic bags now empty of decorations, "I coulda swallowed that bird 'ole if I'd felt like it. Still, reckon we're 'bout done 'ere dame, best get upstairs an' see if anyone else needs a few extra hands". Rouge nodded, the reptile leaning to the side as she moved past him, speaking as she did so,

"Suits me, see you up there, take your time though", she wagged a warning finger, a grin on her lips, "I'll need a second to make sure there's at least one piece of furniture between you and Knucklehead at all times". Vector groaned and slapped a meaty palm over his face, dragging it down his long jaw as he glared at the bat evilly,

"'Ow many times Red; I'm not gonna paste your man, temptin' as it might be"; having at last made his point, the team leader of the Chaotix set himself back to his appointed task before the sound of a sudden giggle made him look over his shoulder – Rouge was level with the door that led into the lounge, pointing into it with a shaking finger as she slapped her knee with the other hand, the laughter forcing her almost to curl up,

"An'", she started to gasp only to be defeated with another spasm of mirth; she recaptured her breath before trying again, "and you said you could keep your hands off each other?"

Before her eyes the picture the bat could see remained motionless; probably a good thing she later realised; even at that height Julie letting go could have done some serious damage to her flatmate's health,

"Believe me", turning her head slowly towards the source of the noise and praying that her blush wouldn't be all that visible, Julie answered the bat in a measured tone as, apparently unconcerned, the hedgehog she had hoisted into the air by his waist continued to hang the decorations he'd taken up with him from the ceiling, "if there was another way to do this I'd use it – this is not what I'd call a dignified view by any stretch of the imagination". Her words simply set Rouge off again for a few seconds; only when the ex-spy had regained control did she suck down some air and answer, nodding at where the back of the hedgehog's thighs hung at eye level to her echidna friend,

"Well they're not the worst I've ever seen", she said coyly; _bingo_; Julie looked down disgustedly so she couldn't be exactly sure but the bat was almost certain she'd seen the corner of a smile on the former Legionnaire's lips; _you two remind me far too much of Knucks and I when we started out, though thankfully with fewer M.E. shards, homicidal robots and near-death experiences_; "but can't you use a stepladder or something, be a lot easier?" Having finished hanging his last decoration, Shadow glanced down at where Rouge stood waiting for her answer and shrugged,

"Nah, stepladder feet would knacker the carpet up, and I agree with you Jules", the echidna's face fell as rapidly as Shadow would have done had her arms lost their composure as her face had –the black hedgehog agreeing with her was a rare, if pleasant, circumstance indeed, "if there was another way I'd take it. In fact if anything it'd be better if I was as strong as you, that way I'd be doing the lifting". _Hello_; Rouge's ears twitched – what was her one-time team mate up to this time?; _only one way to find out_;

"Why's that?" _Come on now_; Shadow heard his cautious side's pleas for clemency and told it in no uncertain terms to cram them; _no physical pain, no verbal gain_;

"Well I guess she'd be easier to lift than I am", Rouge saw his smile and winced on his behalf as Julie's expression suddenly clouded over, "they're called love-handles for a reason you know".

Having finally gathered up the bags they'd been using, Vector arrived level with Rouge just as an agonised gargle sounded from the lounge; ducking his head in as the bat cracked up in the background, he saw Julie standing up tall and glaring volcanically at where Shadow was prostrate on the deck, both hands clapped over his tail end, and quickly deduced what must have happened,

"Whoa, nice atomic drop Jules", he winked as she switched her gaze over to him for a second, "now go fer the pin; you wanna three or three-hundred count? Gone!" She exploded towards him a few paces and he raced off up the stairs, Rouge left behind and almost on her knees with laughing so hard; Julie snorted at her friend disdainfully before heading towards her prone flatmate, kicking him softly in the ribs as he tried to get up and cursing him quietly under her breath at the same time as mentally filing away the method he'd used to catch her out, ready to work out a defence for it later.

XXX

With all the extra hands even the house didn't take all that long, though the evening was beginning to draw in and shade the edges of the day as all bar two of the assembled workers finally ran out of work to do and congregated in the lounge. As Vector busied himself with something in the kitchen, Julie looked around from where she'd sat down on one of the armchairs and commented dryly,

"This must be a big thing on the world below then, I just didn't realise how much effort went into it". Knuckles looked over and she met his eye, grateful beyond words that her one-time lust for him, the main driving force behind her abandoning the Dark Legion and its ethos in the first place was now over, dead and buried forever as the other echidna spoke,

"Yeah, came as a shock to me as well first time; don't worry though, gets easier the more you do it. That said", his lilac gaze travelled to the door as it was pushed open, Vector walking inside with a heavy tray on his arms, seven cups, a full teapot and a plate piled high with the remaining mince pies accounting for the weight as the crocodile headed for the lounge's main table.

"Well then, 'ere we go", the tray landed with a thunk and clink of china tapping together, "get stuck in, those pies won't keep so we gotta get'em eaten now". Shadow chuckled,

"Trust me that's not a problem", he flicked his eyes sideways and smiled darkly before finishing, "for some of us at least". _You are so dead you don't even know how dead you are_; trying hard to think of happy things in the face of such outright provocation, Julie changed the subject quickly even as she swore to get revenge on her impudent flatmate before the day was out,

"Well after the lifting I've been doing I can afford a bit of a snack; all you had to do was stretch up and stick stuff to the roof, how many calories did that burn off Blackie? Not many I'll bet, but", even as Shadow's face hardened at the mention of the name he considered taboo the echidna marched on regardless, "I suppose this makes it all worthwhile".

"Too right", Charmy nodded sagely though his attempted expression of wisdom was undone somewhat by the mice-pie crumbs on his lips as he glanced around the now-transformed living room, "decorations up and sweet pots filled; all we need now is the almighty bang as Vector blows the fuses then we know it's well and truly Christmas".

After sniggering for a second at Charmy's quip, all seven Mobians looked around in appreciation of Julie's earlier words and realised that yes, to a greater or lesser degree she was absolutely correct in what she'd said. The lounge itself was liberally festooned with streamers of brightly-coloured paper and shiny tinsel while other, smaller ornaments adorned the shelves and small tables sprinkled around the room for guests to rest their cups and food on, and the rest of the house was similarly decorated and ready to rock and roll for the festive period. With three teams of six Mobians working together to put all the decorations up and Espio working alone, as much out of personal preference as the reason he gave that, if he was actually ill, he didn't want to pass the germs on to anyone else, it hadn't taken all that long to do and now, as they all supped from the fruits of their labours, all seven friends realised they could relax, cut back for a minute and, in one case, put into motion a plan they'd been working on for ages; with a sudden jolt, Vector snapped his fingers as though struck by a sudden idea,

"Ah, bingo, almos' forgot; cheers for the reminder". Julie looked as bemused as everyone else as the crocodile flashed his pearly whites her way before reaching down – no-one commented much when he unlaced and slipped off one of his shoes, but when he started to peel off the thick sock that lay beneath it there was no way everyone was going to keep quiet about that,

"Umm, Vec", it was actually Espio who broke the silence, hand around his cup of cold juice as he wrinkled his nose at the sight of the undergarment, "what are you doing?"

"'Anging me sock up 'course", the crocodile replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, "I know we ain't got a chimney, but this'll make sure Santa drops in an' delivers to us right?" _Is he being serious?_ The thought was shared by almost the collective of the assembled Mobians as they all swapped looks and mutterings, though only after a second of horrified glancing at the limp sock Vector now held in one scaled paw did anyone act on such a thought,

"Vector", Charmy shook his head as he spoke, tone halfway between humour and outright horrification, "take it from me when I say that if there's one thing guaranteed to stop Santa dropping in it's going to be the thought of your sock waiting for him when he get here".

_Thank you Charmy – phase one underway_; even as he thought his customary two moves ahead the crocodile forced his face to stay politely neutral as he simply defended his point of view,

"Why though, you know he's gotta fill all our stockings wi' presents".

"Yes but that would be very difficult for him to accomplish when he's flat on his back with said stocking trying to eat his face off", the bee exaggerated, pointing at the limp black form in his older friend's hand as though it were a live nuclear device, "I've heard it from my Mighty, that thing is the Hannibal Lector of the underwear world; Santa will die an excruciating death if he get within three-hundred yards of that sock". It was working already, most of the others were already grinning broadly as they watched the war of words; by the time he'd be ready to strike they'd all be helpless,

"But 'ang on, if this is so dangerous", Vector ran his free hand over the toe end of his held sock as though fussing a favoured pet, "why are my feet still in one piece, never nibbled them it hasn't".

"I have no idea", once more in his element Charmy played his audience for laughs expertly, already hearing the rewards of a couple of snickers from somewhere behind him as he and Vec set their friends up for a fall into hysteria, "probably a case of not biting off the foot that feeds you, and besides that your feet are probably the only thing in the world those socks can't digest. And anyway, if not for Santa, think of it for us; how are we supposed to sleep at night knowing that thing's loose in the house?"

"It's alright, I was going to tape it up", Vector defended himself petulantly; Charmy simply slapped a hand over his eyes and dragged it down his face at the crocodile's purposeful stupidity,

"Vector, you could nail that thing to the wall and embalm it in cast iron afterwards and I still wouldn't be feeling safe in any way; that stench can probably melt its way through anything given a bit of time", as there was already a background of laughter from over his shoulder the bee moved in for the killing joke, "and I don't want to come downstairs on the twenty-fifth to see a dropped sack of presents, two black boots and that thing sleeping off its latest meal – I can see the headlines now", he moved his hands up as though framing something, expression star-struck, "'Stocking Fills Itself with Santa; don't you think we've had enough bad press over the years without having feeding the spirit of goodwill to all men and Mobians to a homicidal tube of wool and cotton to add to the scrap-book?"

At those words, his tone of voice and Vector's resultant expression, the dam broke utterly,

"Guys stop, stohohohop!" Almost keeled off her seat Julie had to plea for clemency; somehow the pair of Chaotix working together like this always managed to snap through her normal self-restraint and set her off giggling, "you're gonnahahaha kill us!"

"Nah we ain't", nodding at Charmy, who took the hint and fell quiet, Vector looked around at where everyone else was either laughing or focussing all their effort on trying to stop laughing; stooping down as though about to put his sock back on, the crocodile sidled up behind where his target was almost hugging the arm rest of the settee, trying to control his juddering stomach muscles; moving in for the kill Vector reached out, and grabbing the back of the couch as though staggering, "I'm just 'im I'm gonna kill".

Before anyone else could react to his words Vector had dived over the back of the settee; next second Knuckles was being hoisted upwards, eyes bulging and both hands flying to his neck as the crocodile twisted the ends of the sock he was now using to garrotte the echidna, glorying in the feeling of such sweet, sweet revenge before everyone else could recover and force him to desist,

"Sorry Knucks, well, actually no I'm not", he breathed in the echidna's ear before giving another tug to the fabric in either of his hands, raising his voice as he saw the rest of his friends about ready to come to the ailing guardians' aid, "well, if it'll save Santa later ya better chow down now; that's right baby…", he gave one final heave, jaws splitting into a huge grin as Knuckles was forced onto tip-toes, still able to draw something like a breath despite the crocodiles' dire threats as he crowed his victory,

"…Supper time!"

XXX

As one hand extended the other massaged his throat, a steely glint in the echidnas' eye at odds with the wry smile on his lips as he spoke slowly, voice a little hoarse after his recent strangulation,

"So, that's us even now?" Vector chuckled in kind, reaching forwards gingerly to shake his employer's hand, ready to forgive and forget now he'd had his chance to even the scores somewhat,

"Yeah, we're square", he dropped the handshake and tapped the door that lead down to the cellar open with the same movement, "just you-know-who for ya ta deal wi' now Knucks, an' that won't be 'til next year anyway". The echidna grimaced, looking just past the crocodile to were his wife was saying goodbye to the rest of the Chaotix, Shadow and Julie before joining him on the journey home,

"Just as well, I'll need that long to get ready for it. Ah, you ready?"

"Yep", moving away from where she'd been saying goodbye to her former team-mate Rouge took her coat from where her husband offered it to her and slipped it on in the same movement, "just finished saying see you; you on the early watch tomorrow Vec?" The crocodile nodded, leaning over and holding open the downward staircase door, the steps beyond the threshold leading down into the darkness and the teleporter back to the shrine of the Master Emerald,

"Yeah, I'll b'there", he assured her, nodding as she moved past with Knuckles in tow, "later Knucks, Red". _Oh, okay_; even in the darkness he was almost sure he saw the bat's wings quiver as she straightened up, a sure sign he'd touched a raw nerve; _might be time to put that one to bed for a bit, at least until she calms down over it_. Thankfully however she seemed disinclined to let his displeasure register in other, less pleasant methods and merely continued walking after a second's hitch – Vector stayed where he was until the zipping noise below him signified the teleporter charging up and being used, then he quietly let the door swing closed, hearing footsteps coming up behind him,

"So", it was Shadow speaking, "they're still in the dark as it were?" Turning around to see the smaller hedgehog leant against one of the hallway walls, Vector folded his muscular arms and nodded,

"Not a clue 'tween the pair of 'em", he assured, a crafty grin creeping over his face as he tried to picture the surprise the guardians had coming their way come the twenty-fifth, "so, you both okay wi'that; dinner 'ere 'bout seven-ish?"

"Suits us; if nothing else they'll be enough chocolate and biscuits at our place to keep even her quiet for a couple of hours", Shadow quipped, dropping his voice as Vector shook his head; _sometimes I reckon you've got a death-wish when it comes to annoying her – if she wanted to she'd break you in half, glue you back together then snap you in twain again_; "anyway, we'd best be going; Julie", turning his back on the head of the Chaotix for a second the hedgehog roared down the hallway, "get a move on before the streets freeze and I can't run anywhere. So, see you next week, not long now…"

"Don't", Vector held up a hand as the anticipation and excitement ripped up through him again – despite his usually adult demeanour in terms of both business and pleasure, the crocodile had simply never been able to cram his heart up his sleeve when the subject of Christmas arose and, of course, hearing about it only made the longing for the day to arrive a hundred times worse, "Charmy'll be buzzin' enough as it is, don't need anyone else lettin' me know 'ow close it is". A noir eyebrow rose in quizzically-gentle disbelief before Shadow was distracted by the arrival of his flatmate, Julie brushing her dreadlocks clear from her vision and speaking to the crocodile in the same motion,

"Right, just said 'bye to Charmy, and if Esp gets any rougher", her expression changed a little, folding up in consternation as she tapped her fingers together; _man, must be serious_; Vector couldn't conceal his surprise at the former Legionnaire's reaction to his team mate's ill-health; _those two are usually daggers drawn_; "well, just keep an eye out, there's some nasty ones going about through the EST, just bear it in mind. Apart from that, everything's done so Shadow, let's move".

"No, actually I move, you just lie there and let me get on with it…damn", not even his black fur could conceal his blush as Julie's eyes suddenly erupted in embarrassed fury at the same time Vector's very indiscreet laugh hammered home the message he'd just deduced after listening to himself, "I just realised how bad that actually sounded. Don't say a word you – that was in completely the wrong context".

"I, I should 'ope so", Vector managed to gasp back, pushing himself to his feet off his knees, "I promise, not a word to anyone. Well, see ya both on the big day if no' before".

"Looking forwards to it; you move it and keep your mouth shut this time", having speared Shadow with her finger Julie led the way to the front door, holding it open and the ebon hedgehog's caustic glare simultaneously as he walked through it; just before it swung shut Vector had a fleeting glimpse of Shadow sweeping the partially mechanised echidna off her feet and getting ready to run back to their shared flat. The hedgehog was probably gone in the blink of an eye, but just to be on the safe side the crocodile held his breath for the count of five before tottering towards the lounge, breaking down into hysterics as he went; _the looks on their faces – twice in as many hours I'd have swapped my soul for a camera!_

XXX

As soon as the paper-hat wearing Charmy swung the door open for them and sent a whistle-blower shooting out towards his wife, Knuckles realised they'd been well and truly done,

"You gits", the echidna bellowed down the hallway, a merry peal of laughter the only response his threat evoked from the Mobians he could hear, and smell even at this distance, celebrating very well indeed, a rowdy and ironic cheer his only answer, "why didn't you tell us, I wouldn't have eaten so much at mums otherwise".

"I'd believe that when I'd seen it", the guardian jumped as Rouge poked him in the ribs, smile a mile wide, "you were never one to turn down a full meal Knuckles, least of all when it was your step-dad's turn to cook". The echidna rounded on her, eyebrows up as he stood to the side to let Charmy pass; the bee knew both of them well enough to know they'd be joining everyone else as soon as this little ding-dong was settled with,

"Says you Miss Trifle-Fiend; the Lord helps those who helps themselves you said once – well you weren't half helping yourself to that little dish, I barely got a spoon in. How you're not tipsy is beyond me, it was a sherry trifle after all".

"Hollow legs", the bat assured him, kicking her shoes off as she did so; she then folded her arms as Knuckles smirked, bending at the waist and scrutinising her lower half as reached down to remove his own footwear, offering a comment a second later,

"Very slender and attractive hollow legs at that, and attached to an equally well proportioned top part it must be said". Rouge threw her coat at him, hoping the material would distract him long enough for her to force the gleeful smile off her face; somehow every compliment Knuckles sent her way, casual or otherwise, made heat rise up under her collar, and not in a bad way either,

"Creep; come on we're late"; despite her words she didn't move immediately as she had an inkling of what would happen if she tried to move past her husband in his present mood. Both Mobians remained stationary for a second before without saying a word Knuckles capitulated, leading her towards the kitchen even if his expression never changed until the very instant he placed a hand on the door handle, twisted and let himself in.

The roar of noise that pounded at both of them almost forced Rouge back a pace; plugging her ears with her hands as best she could, the bat staggered forwards a little, hoping the noise would abate slightly by the time she managed to follow in her husband's footsteps and take the seat that had doubtless been laid out for her at the table of those her in-laws employed in the loosest sense of the word. _Umm_; with her hearing out of commission she had to rely on other senses to inform her of the bigger picture, and from what her nose was telling her it was a picture to set her mouth watering despite the full meal she'd had not three or four hours ago; _guess they were right, they really can cook when they've a mind to, even with Mighty missing_. Shaking her head slightly to dispel the last of the residual buzzing in her ears, Rouge stepped over the threshold into the warm kitchen, fanning her face at the sudden heat as everyone else assembled waved and voiced their greeting to her and Knuckles, the echidna conscientiously pulling out the seat laid for her as he carefully picked his way through the packed chairs to his place, everyone else tucking in as best they could to ease his passing. Even before she was comfortably seated down the bat found herself having to reflexively duck as a shadow whipped over her head,

"Whoop, sorry dame, nearly lost me feet there", she brushed off Vector's apology without thinking about it, reaching up behind her to help steady one of the dishes he'd carried from the small oven that had obviously been putting in some serious overtime to get everything she could see on the table well prepared, "don' worry, we know yer both probably stuffed fuller'an the turkey, so I carved the portions small for yer".

"Thanks", Knuckles called over after casually wrapping an arm around Julie's shoulders as an informal, affectionate hello; despite her one-time infatuation with him, he both knew that such feelings in her were well and truly buried and as respected her enough as an ally and friend to know she wouldn't misread deeper meanings than he was putting into his gestures. Indeed, she simply responded by running her hand down his closest dreadlock before tucking her knife and fork up together and twisting them to three o'clock on her plate,

"And what you didn't carve up for them, put it there"; _I know you're not going to keep your mouth shut, but that just tasted so good_; Shadow was forever lampooning her dieting and fitness regime, usually due to the fact he was built so annoyingly lightly he'd never even needed to consider going through either of them and now, asking for seconds as she was, she knew wasn't going to able to resist taking a pot-shot at her breeching her weekly calorie count, "what d'you call that bird again?" To her amazement though, despite the black hedgehog sending an amused smile her way, the next voice she heard was not his mocking her losing her way in her diet,

"Turkey", Vector answered with his back to her, the electric knife in his hand whirring softly as he cleanly sliced new wafers of meat from the breast of the roasted bird, the other hand ready with the gravy, "tastes okay long as it don't cook itself dry; want gravy Knucks?"

"Yeah, just a splash", the echidna answered casually, turning his head at the tap on his shoulder and as a result nearly inhaling the cracker that was thrust towards his face, "oh, I get you". One hand on the end of the minor explosive, Charmy grinned,

"First time for everything, it usually goes sailing over your head. Come on, give us a pull – ah no chance", backing up violently the bee only just managed to avoid stinging Shadow's thigh by accident, the guardian's sudden movement towards his vulnerable knee making him simultaneously shoot backwards on his seat and extend his most dangerous weapon reflexively, both his hands whipping down to clamp around the echidna's wrist, "you do and you won't move again 'til New Year, got it?"

"No but I'm sure you'll give it to me eventually"; _ouch – boy did I walk into that one_; all the bee could do was take it as there was a general whistling from all sides in appreciation of Knuckles' uncharacteristic triumph in a verbal clash with arguably the fastest tongue in the Chaotix. After licking his finger and hissing, the echidna did, however, take hold of the other end of the bee's cracker, his action mirrored by his wife as she accepted a similar gift from Espio's glove-encased hand. There was a second of straining on both sides of the table before with a couple of bangs a split-second apart, the two crackers were sundered.

Once he'd rocked back to his normal sitting position Knuckle looked at his hand eagerly only for his smile to slip a little; _well, I was never really lucky like that anyway_. With a shrug he placed the now-redundant scrap of material next to his empty table mat, glancing over as Charmy quickly rifled through the long end of the tube to see the goodies he'd received,

"Ah, there we go, my second of the night you know. Anyway, you best put this on, we've all got our already"; _suits me_; no longer as staid and frightfully proper as he once had been Knuckles gladly accepted the folded up paper hat the bee offered him, smoothing it out and placing it on his own head to complete the collection of kings and queens seated around the table now, though he had to hold in a laugh at the sight of Rouge having her crown on lop-sided – it was simply too small to fit over both her ears, "and you best have this too; after the coffee we all get to read the jokes out, groansome as they might be".

"And they are", Shadow added his half-crest worth, his fingers flipping down a small rectangle of paper held under the end of his spoon, "if a little, how can I put this delicately, mature?"

"Mature", Rouge parroted from her end of the table, a half-embarrassed half mirthful note in her voice as she held up the gift she'd won from pulling her cracker with Espio, "that's one way of putting it; what you reckon Knucks, give this a try tonight?" At the sight of the garment, or what he assumed was a garment, hanging from her littlest finger, her husband simultaneously blushed and chortled,

"Be serious, I've seen cheese-wire thicker than that. You get a wardrobe malfunction with that on it'd split you down the middle, or up the middle as the case may be". Rouge shuddered even as most of the others sniggered, tucking the offending material back up in the end of her cracker,

"Point made and taken on board", she conceded before ducking down a little in her seat, twisting to see Espio square in her vision as the chameleon's larger reptilian counterpart reached over to place her meal before her, "what about you Esp, feeling any better?"

"Not really", he said, shaking his head and trying to burrow deeper into his thick overcoat; despite the overall mildness of the season, especially compared to this time last year, he was still feeling the chill in the air and the unsettled churning in his belly, or to be more accurate just below his belly, wasn't helping him cope with matters, "but it'll blow over soon, don't worry about it".

_Glad to hear it_; hoping her relief was masked by the general air of merry-making all around her Rouge heard an echo in her mind and now, only after hearing the words from the chameleon's own mouth, did she finally give it full credence; _guess you were right Vec – he really does make an effort at Christmas_. With that one minor sticking point finally ironed out, the bat turned back to her plate and swiftly picked up knife and fork, conveniently forgetting she'd already probably eaten too much not very long ago in the face of being forced to give up some of the delicious scents now curling up around her nose.

"Sure smells something else", quickly cutting off a chunk of the dry turkey as she couldn't usually stand the taste of stock-based gravy, the bat held it up to her eye before letting her vision focus beyond it, tipping a wink to where Vector was just taking Julie's plate to be restocked, "my compliments to our hosts and in particular our chef".

"My pleasure dame", despite his cool exterior she felt the crocodile virtually beam with self-pride as he walked past to the oven once more, the whisper only just reaching even her ears, "like I said, not often I get'a do this, gotta make it count when I can ain't I?"

XXX

A short while later, with the used crockery on the side to be disposed of later and every jaw and joke exhausted, Charmy realised the stage was set for his big moment and, hopping up into his seat, took the congregation by surprise with a sudden clap,

"Okay, now we've got through the easy bit, time to get your brains back into gear for a bit. As I think you all now know, every year it's my job to buy a game the Chaotix can play over the Christmas table, only this year there's a few more of us than normal. So with that in mind, this year I went a bit off the beaten track…"

"…An' so did we"; _time to wrap this up before he gets into his stride_; though he could see Charmy's irritated glance, the bee irked by someone taking the spotlight when it was by right his turn to shine, Vector knew he aught to get this into the open now, "nuthin' 'gainst you Charm bu' this year we 'ad to do things a bit differen' too. This year, three days ago in fact, you turned sixteen an' that makes you an adult now…"

"God help us", Espio growled from somewhere inside the overcoat he had around his body, though just this once there was malice in his eyes to back up his cutting humour, the comment was meant as an innocent joke and, taking it as such, Vector smoothly took up where he'd left off,

"…so ta mark the 'ccassion, we 'ad t'go all out. So Charm", reaching down and pulling out the drawer in the kitchen table, Shadow breathing in to let him pull it out far enough to insert one meaty hand in and pull out a last, square package, wrapped in shiny paper, "this is frum me, Esp and Mighty". Offering it over the table, the crocodile blinked away any tears that might have been threatening to well up in his eyes as he felt the bee take the parcel from his hand, Charmy looking similarly struck down by emotion as, maybe for the first time he realised the scale of the threshold he'd just crossed; _an adult – man, how long was it since I told myself it'd be years before I finally grew up?_;

"'Appy birthday mate".

Silence fell over the table but Charmy hardly noticed, just as he didn't even see even Espio have to turn his face away for a second to wipe one of his eyes on the collar of his jacket or anyone else have to glance away momentarily, overwhelmed almost just as he was by the culmination of this rite of passage. His throat was too tight to force any words through so instead he just placed the package on the table in front of him and with fumbling fingers strove to undo it; it took him longer than it normally would have done but as far as he was concerned the sight of the box hidden by the wrapping more than made up for any of his clumsiness. Eyes widening to the size of manhole covers, the bee simply gasped as he picked up his latest present,

"Wow; this is…", he had to look again, just to double-check, "this is…my first razor?"

"Yeah", Vector muttered after clearing his throat self-consciously; this was Charmy's big moment after all, "should stop ya nickin' Might's tweezers every time y'get a long 'un givin' ya jip". As he'd expected the shock had already worn off as like all insects Charmy was very hard to surprise for very long – he was now busily tearing at one end of the box to actually see his newest toy in the proverbial flesh,

"Too right, ooh this is going to be something else, but", suddenly he paused, looking a little bewildered and thoughtful all at once, "I don't know how to use it, and pointless looking at you pair, bald as snooker balls"; _just because it's your birthday I'll let you off_; despite his dire thoughts, in his heart of hearts Espio was having to exert more a struggle than normal not to smile at his younger compatriot's infectious humour, "Knuckles, can you…?" The echidna held up a hand, dreadlocks swaying as he shook his head,

"Sorry pal I moult; yeah, true", Julie backed him up nodding as the guardian explained in more detail, "my hair just doesn't get very long, except these of course", he added, brushing his distinctive hairstyle from his face before continuing, "but apart from that for the most part it falls out before it gets too much of a problem. Anything that does get a bit long I just have to tug on usually and it's gone, and she shaves with a blowtorch so sorry Charm, we're no help". As his one-time team mate glared across the table at her husband's discourteous comment Shadow summed things up with pursed lips and stood up, slapping one of his thighs as he made his mind up,

"Well looks like it's up to me then; Charmy", the bee looked over and grabbed his new razor eagerly as the ebon hedgehog pointed upwards in the direction of the stairs, "to the bathroom".

As the last hint of honey-blonde striped abdomen disappeared around the door jamb Rouge leant across to whisper to Espio, their normal animosity suspended for the day,

"Nice plan from the lot of you that was".

"Actually mostly Mightys, and then through expediency", the chameleon smiled as he elaborated, "reckon she must have been getting a bit sick of having to root through Charmy's room every time her eyebrow pluckers went walkabout. But anyway, she suggested it, Vector brought it and I…well, let's just say I'll add the finishing touch". _Not sure I like the sound of that_; faint alarm bells tinkled in the back of Rouge's mind at that comment, the din growing louder as she beheld the wicked smile on his face, before the Chaotix on the other side of her stood up, apparently struck by an idea,

"Gorra plan guys; while those two're getting' tha' new toy buzzin', let's 'ave a look at what the buzz-boy brought for us to 'ave a go at. If nuthin' else we might get some idea o'the rules 'fore they get back".

"Good idea, you know where it is?" Julie applauded and then questioned the crocodile's question; with a chuckle, Vector tapped the side of his long, pointed jaw,

"Oh yeah – he's a great kid, or actually a great young Mobian I'll 'ave to say frum now on"; _boy is this going to take some getting used to_; just as it had with Charmy moments earlier, the thought of his youngest team mate growing up and the consequences that was going to have for the team as a whole struck him but he put it on the back burner for now; _but we'll thrash out a deal later – besides, worst come to worst he's still Charmy Bee, same as he always was_; "but 'e's never been one fer 'avin' creative places to 'ide things. Bear wimme a sec". With that, the crocodile stood up and began a hut around the Chaotix's home, keeping an ear open at all times for any noises he might have been able to hear from upstairs.

XXX

"Okay Charm, first thing's first; have you ever seen a human razor, an electric one that is?"

"Umm", as he sidled into the bathroom behind his impromptu teacher the bee racked his brain for a moment, "I, uh, I think so, but not in any great detail".

"That's fine", Shadow assured him, trying to putt he bee at ease as he remembered how nervous he'd been as, following his release from hospital and amnesia after his tangle with Metal Sonic in Overlord mode, he'd had to relearn this essential young Mobians' grooming from skill from none other than Sonic; _and didn't that bring a new meaning to the phrase 'cut-throat shaving'?_; "well all you have to remember is that we don't shave like humans do – we'd look a bit weird with bare necks don't you think?" The bee nodded nervously, sliding out the plastic tray that held his new razor and the tools that went with it, marvelling as he saw them all for real for the first time; _and I'm going to have to put blades that sharp against my neck?!_;

"Yeah, it would be a bit strange. Still, at least we don't have to wax"; _ouch_; having had this procedure explained to him Shadow winced before continuing his explanation, albeit a little more shakily than before,

"Well yep, there is that because that really would sting. But anyway, these razors are different to human razors – they just trim long hair and leave the shorter stuff where it is. So, plug her in and switch on", extending to cord from the bottom end of the plastic casing Charmy did so, sliding the two-pronged plug into the appropriate socket at the edge of the bathroom mirror and, with just a hint of hesitation, pushed the on switch upwards.

The razor vibrated and, not expecting it, the bee nearly let it drop and jumped out of his skin in the same movement,

"Don't worry, it's meant to do that", Shadow assured him calmly before casting his eyes over the rest of the kit that had come out of the shaving box and plucking something up from the tray, "right, first thing you've got to do when shaving is make sure all the hair you're after stands on end, otherwise the razor can't grip it. So, run a bowl of lukewarm water, not too hot, and add a couple of drops of this", wordlessly Charmy followed the instructions he'd been set and took the small bottle of oil offered to him by the hedgehog, unscrewing and tipping it to let a few pale blue drips fall into the basin as Shadow looked on approvingly,

"Right, no problem; next step, you've gotta wet the razor – I find a cold blade doesn't work as well, so by dipping it in the bowl you'll warm it up a touch. See those two little lumps, on either side of the two tracks there?" Charmy inverted the razor and scanned along the tracks, his eyes taking in the two rows of what looked like very small and fine gears, obviously designed to rotate inwards and drag his unwanted body hair to be cut by the tiny sliver of metal he could see nesting between the pair of gear racks; _ah, is that them?_;

"You mean these?" He pinched his finger and thumb against two plastic protrusions, one at each end of the razor head itself,

"Yes, that's them, now push them in and pull carefully, that'll take the groomers off; oh, that's what those little gear lines are called", the hedgehog explained as Charmy glanced up quizzically, "and don't drop them. Take it from me those little buggers are a pain to find if you let go and they scatter all over the floor, it's usually a hoover job to rope them all back in". Charmy chuckled but said nothing, instead concentrating on very gently levering the groomer rows off the rest of the razor; by degrees as he pushed on the buttons Shadow had pointed out for him they were coming until, with an audible pop, both rows were pinched between his fingers, leaving the head of the razor bare. Charmy noticed idly that the actual blade of the razor was actually longer than he'd thought as the edges of the groomers hid the end centimetre or so in both directions, though as Shadow spoke again he barely gave his observation a second thought, unable to possibly know how important knowing such a tiny thing could be in the near future,

"Okay, baptise your new blade, get the groomers back on then dunk your face and you're about ready to go", the ebon hedgehog directed with a smile, watching on as Charmy hastily followed his instruction and picking up only a single flaw, "but don't forget to wash your neck as well; you'll have to shave there too or you'll never be able to wear any sort of shirt, the collar will drive you mad if your neck hair's too long".

"Right, thanks", the bee told him hurriedly before closing his mouth as he took some more water in his cupped hands, transferring it up to drench his still-dry neck fur; _cor, that is a bit warm – still, as long as it stops me ripping out my windpipe I can't complain too much can I?_; "okay, I reckon I'm ready".

"Well in that case, that's about as much as I can help you"; _what!_; his concern must have shown on his face as Shadow's expression softened, explanation in his voice as he continued, "Sonic told me once that shaving's a personal thing and in a way he was right; it's a different ritual for everyone, you really have to find your own way of doing it so it works for you. I will say this though", once more Charmy paid rapt attention as the hedgehog held up three fingers, ticking them off one by one as he made the relevant points, "don't press the razor actually against your skin or the groomers will pinch it and you'll get cut by the razor's blade itself; don't pull the razor along too fast or it won't have time to shave your fur, you'll just pull it out by the roots and that hurts, and last thing, once you're done just take off the racks again and give the whole thing a wash over, keep it clean that way. Nothing worse than having a razor gummed up with old fur and shaving oil".

"You speaking from experience there?"

"Get out", Shadow glowered gently, rubbing his hand through the bees' antennae with a reluctant smile tingeing his lips; _should have seen that coming_; "anyway I'll leave you to it – just take your time and you'll be okay, we'll wait for you. Have fun".

_Yeah right_; somehow Charmy managed to keep smiling as the midnight hedgehog departed – only when the door slammed shut did he let the awkward expression drop from his face as nerves gnawed at him once more. The tool in his hand suddenly felt heavy as a half-brick as the enormity of the task before him loomed up, threatening and ominous as he realised this time he had no-one else to help him. For a second he was tempted to go hurtling back out to Shadow and ask him to repeat what he'd just said because already he'd forgotten it, but such fear lasted only for a second; taking a deep breath, the bee closed his eyes before facing the mirror, opening them to see his reflection staring back at him steely-eyed. _Right then you_; snapping the groomers back into place and switching the razor on, steadier in his grip now he expected the vibrations, Charmy faced himself in the mirror; _let's do this_.

XXX

"Go okay?"

"Yeah, he'll be fine", Shadow remarked off-handedly, setting Vector at ease before looking over at the table itself, "what are you lot up to?"

"Trying to make head from tail of this lot", Knuckles replied, sitting back and scratching his head at the plastic figurine in his hand, "'it'll be easier when we've got it unpacked' – famous last words". Following the conversation through his crimson eyes Shadow leant against the doorframe, thin amusement on his face as his flatmate looked up from the book she'd had her nose buried in to reply to the guardian's backhanded insult,

"It's true, it actually doesn't seem all that complicated according to this", she tapped the rulebook she was reading before reaching into the box again, "the red ones are player figures, the other colours aren't – sort them out first and then we can work out what the cards do". Everyone leant in to lend a hand before a sudden yelp from upstairs made them all pause; Shadow simply tilted his head backwards to shout up the stairs,

"Don't pull it, just let it glide over your fur. Don't worry", he raised a hand at where the other two Chaotix were looking at him crookedly, trying to work out if he'd given their youngest member bad advice, "there's no such thing as beginners luck shaving; first time always hurts most". Before anyone else could reply there was another moan from the bathroom and, this time unable to conceal his smirk, the former ultimate life-form leant backwards again,

"And don't push down too hard", he called to his recent pupil before shaking his head, "he'll get it in the end; you only need a few times practise before the novelty wears off and it's just something you have to get on with, a bit a flatmate really". Julie snorted without looking up from the latest paragraph she was reading,

"Well take it from me you don't get any easier over time Shady – you're still a struggle to get on with even now". _Think I might have come off worst in that one_; despite their frequent disagreements Shadow had to concur with his first thought on this occasion – taking a seat at the table next to Espio, the hedgehog glanced at the cards the reptile was holding before, completely bamboozled by what they might have meant, the hedgehog peered into the box itself and, seeing that everyone else was busy sorting miniatures into red and other colours, took a handful to sort himself, all the while wondering what he'd let himself in for this time – what had Charmy brought for them all to enjoy over the festive period?

They were almost ready to go with all the figurines separated and cards in neatly-shuffled stacks when, from high above, they heard the sound of a door whooshing open and Charmy's voice, exultant with self-pride and new-found sense of respectability,

"Finished".

"Mine", Espio's growl stifled the breaths everyone else had drawn in to congratulate the bee with; without deigning to answer their quizzical looks the chameleon stood up, a slightly pained grimace on his face as such a movement strained his troubled area, and called back up the stairs, "no you haven't. Check the medicine cabinet". The bee didn't answer immediately as everyone else swapped quizzical glances – there was a second's pause before they heard him speak once more,

"All right, thanks Esp". _And another plan concludes in success_; the chameleon allowed himself a pat on the back for his cleverness before being forced to sit down again, the bubbling cauldron of his stomach threatening to spill over if he remained standing any longer. His auburn eyes were on the congregation as he sat back down; eh could virtually see the unspoken consensus being reached and was actually betting with himself on who would be the one to actually break the silence with the question he knew was coming…

"AhhhhHHHHHOOOOOWWWW! SON of Aaa-ahhh-wweeeeeEEEE, pain, PAI-AI-AINNN!" Despite his training in emotional concealment the chameleon had to almost bite his tongue off to stop himself laughing as the swapped glances of confusion quickly metamorphosed into glances of concern and outright fear at the bee's sudden screaming,

"Whaddya do to 'im?!" _Hoping you'd ask_; even feeling under the weather and with turmoil roiling in his guts, the chameleon could still pull off a perfect foreboding smile as he met Vector's bellow squarely in the face and spoke his sublime, single-word answer,

"After-shave".

XXX

Hours later, or at least what felt like hours later, the last of the stinging sensations had finally left Charmy's face and he was able to concentrate on the game he was now a big part of, though trying not to scratch at the small flecks of paper he'd dotted onto the few nicks his razor had given him was proving to be a struggle as the urge to pick at them was proving maddeningly alluring even when it was his turn. Trying to size up all the options he had now, the bee decided on a quick strategy, checked his character's card one last time and crossed his fingers for luck,

"Okay then, I'll move to here, got just enough to get there", everyone else around the table watched as he tapped his piece another few squares forwards, one other player looking on in particular consternation as Charmy's figure ended up adjacent to his own, "and I'll try to charm a bit of gold out the preachers' pocket; after all, he does suffer from acute gullibility".

"What gullibility?" _Oops_; even before he started checking off his character's card Knuckles realised it was too late and he'd walked right into it,

"That gullibility", Charmy informed him, everyone else at the table trying, or in some cases not trying, to conceal smirks at the guardian's slip; for his part Knuckles just grabbed his dice and glared at the player next to him,

"Birthday boy or not I'm not letting you have that one. How does a Charm attack work again, is it his Charm against my Wits?" Spurred into action, Vector started flicking through the rulebook he had close at hand, trying to reference the right page off the top of his head,

"Er, bear wimme, yep", he tapped the page he was on, "got it in one Knucks; okay, roll fer it".

"And I'm at plus-two; gotta love that rogue's silver tongue", Charmy informed all watching happily, though the expression faded away as both his and Knuckles' dice stopped spinning on the board, "which gives me a five overall, that could've gone better. But I win by one though…"

"No", Knuckles headed him off triumphantly, stabbing at part of his character card with a triumphant finger, "the Priest gets plus-one to resist all Charm attacks, either from monsters or other players, so that means we're even and I assume nothing happens?"

"An' yer right", Vector assured him after a second consultation with the rules, "anyway even if ya hadda lost Charm woulda 'ad ta beat ya by two ta get anythin'. So", disregarding the bee's disappointment, the crocodile nodded to the crested echidna at the table, "your go Knucks".

"Right, well tempting as it is to leather the little toe-rag in front of me", he favoured Charmy with a dirty glance, the bee merely looking away snootily until he desisted and looked back at the game board, "I'm supposed to be a man of the cloth and prone to charity, so I'll just move off. Two dice and I go…eleven", he raised his eyebrows at his high movement score and quickly totted up the routes he could take; _don't have much at the minute, that last room I cleared really took it out of me, but still_; he glanced down at the door he could reach and the remaining spell cards his character held; _it's tempting to go for it even if I'm down a bit. Oh what the hell – if you can't take a few risks at Christmas when can you be a bit reckless?_ Mind made up, Knuckles reached over and hefted his playing piece by the long, crooked staff that was melded into the plastic,

"So then, one, two, three, 'scuse me Jules", the player on the other side of him raised her eyebrows as his piece hopped over hers, its controller counting out the rest of his movement save one square, coming to rest adjacent to an unopened dungeon door; _don't you dare – I want to go in there!_; "get to there and then I cast this – ESP".

"What's it do?" Picking up the blue-backed card, the echidna read from it before transferring it to the discard pile for spells,

"'You can use this spell when stood next to any unopened dungeon door. Look at the top Dungeon card in secret; do not show the other players. Place this card face-down on the room you are adjacent to without revealing what it is. Using this spell ends your turn'; basically it's a sneak-peak, so…", finished with the spell, he let the used card drift to rest with its fellow used spells before drawing the top card from the much larger stack of green-backed Dungeon cards. He read for a few seconds before raising his eyebrows and placing the card down on the room he was next to, speaking in a carefully-weighted neutral tone as he did so,

"Interesting"; _you left that there as a lure didn't you?_; Julie cursed the other echidna even as she scooped up her own dice, trying to plot her next move, "well, that ESP ends my turn so over to you Julie".

"Well I'm a fighter; button it you", catching movement from the corner of her eye she squelched Shadow's smirk with a threatening finger, rolling for her movement in the same motion, "so, yep that's enough; kick the door in, grab your sword and go in swinging".

"Yep, that just about sums you up quite nicely", the black hedgehog agreed with her statement as Julie's playing piece made it through the door Knuckles had been stood next to; _though why's he wincing all of…oh, that's why_;

"Oh no", as she flipped the card Knuckles had already seen Julie's face dropped at the sight of the coloured reptile snarling up at her, "a dragon!"

As everyone else around the table sucked in breaths of apprehension for the showdown Julie was now involved in there was a snort from the other side of her; Espio sat back with arms folded, nodding at the revealed monster,

"What you on about, dragon? That's Vec first thing in the morning that is".

"Zip it you", the insulted crocodile informed his team mate with a threatening look, plonking the appropriate figurine on the square at the same time as reading off its statistics, "okay, ya busted into its dorm, so it's gonna try bitin' yer 'ead off; ya can't Charm it 'cause it's immune…"

"Not that she could anyway"; _wait, wait and…now_; "she's a warrior after all, much better at hack and slash than spells and socialism". Keeping his face studiously neutral Shadow nevertheless gloried in his latest triumph at his flatmate's expense as, totally wrong-footed by his change of direction from reality to the fantasy of the game they were all playing, Julie was left with no recourse to snap back at him with. Instead she snatched up her dice again, ready to take her temper out on the big lizard she'd stirred into life as Vector finished running down her options,

"…so looks like it'll be a straight fight. You roll a D6 plus yer Fight ratin'", Julie nodded and internally braced herself – from what she'd seen of the dragon's card it was in a much stronger position, "and it rolls 3D6; Esp, you roll for it. Okay, round one, game on".

As the crocodile brought the edge of his hand down, both fighters tossed their dice into the ring, Julie crossing her fingers more than most; _come on, it's got ten Health so I can't actually kill it even if I max my roll but at least I might be able to avoid some damage – oh yes_; the sight of six dots on her dice made her feel a lot better, especially with her magical sword helping her out in combats like this,

"Okay, Fight 2 for being a warrior, plus one for my sword and a six; well, I get a nine then". Espio shook his head,

"Twelve; it beat you by three, so that means you lose three Health, drop a Treasure card and exit the room".

"Maybe", Julie corrected him, highlighting one of her other equipment cards, "but this armour means I can ignore two points of damage if I roll a three or more, which I…do, just", she counted her blessings as her solitary die came up with the required number, "so I lose a Health, big deal, I've got eight left, and get booted back into the corridor – ow! Right then scaly", she glared at the dragon that had bested her, "I'll get back to you".

"Not if I get there first you won't", Rouge smirked, holding up one of her spell cards teasingly, "got just the thing for dragons right here. You might need some healing though", the bat mentioned, noticing the battering the echidna's character had been taking recently. After seeing that out of a possible twenty her health was now below half, Julie nodded at her friend's assumption,

"You might be right; oh Knuckles"; _I hate it when girls talk like that_; the echidna sat next to the former Legionnaire folded his arms as she turned his way, eyelashes fluttering;_ it usually means they want something_; "can't you help me?"

"Why would I want to do that exactly? Healing someone makes me miss my next go". _Nothing's ever free_; with a huff at the rising prices of everything, Julie slid one of her item cards over to her right,

"I'll trade you this for a full reboot"; after seeing the Spellbook card and reading what it could do, Knuckles' eyes widened,

"Done; stay where you are and I'll get you done next turn; I need some more spells, those bugbears or whatever you call them really took it out of me".

"Shame you don't get spells automatically isn't it Knuckles? You have to find a shrine and pray for them while I get a free one every turn if I don't move – ah the joys of being a sorcerer", Shadow's voice oozed out of the corner he was sat in, thick with smug satisfaction for a second before it became suddenly more brisk, "but anyway, enough of you two double-dealing with each other, it's Esp's turn". The chameleon blinked at the mention of his name before suddenly seeming to remember where he was; it looked like he'd been on the edge of a doze before Shadow had roused him, something his voice and generally sluggishness did nothing but support as one of his fingers quested forwards blindly,

"Urgh, so it is; don't worry my move's quick at least". With that, he reached forwards and knocked his playing piece over, the small plastic assassin character rocking forwards on its face as its owner stood up, dragging his numerous layers of clothing up with him.

He knew what they were going to ask and forestalled them with a raised hand, shaking his head as he was really not in the mood for questions of any sort,

"I can't play any more; sorry but I'm just not feeling up to it at all; Charm, it's a damn good game and I promise I'll play it again when I'm back up to speed, but for now I'm hitting the sack for the night".

"Sure thing"; _Espio saying I did something right – it must be my birthday_; the bee hid the mirth such a rogue thought sparked off in him before finishing his sentence with complete sincerity, "have a good night, and thanks for the smellies Esp; might strip off a couple of layers of skin like but hey, anything for fashion right?"

"Right", the chameleon answered him before waving around the room and departing for his bed, a comfortable place to rest despite the fact he didn't feel at all tired; he just wanted to get somewhere private to try and work out what was bothering him without having all these other people around, "night all, and Merry Christmas". There was a dull chorus of reverberated benedictions as he shuffled off slowly, one hand on his belly at all times as though his fingers could sink down past his scales, through his muscles and touch on the source of the discomfort itself even as he made it out of the dining room door and began to slowly, painfully alight the stairs that led up to his room.

With a low whistle Rouge watched the usually-myopic lizard depart, her normal antipathy towards him replaced by grudging concern and respect – after all, by his standards remaining so friendly to so many people all night was little short of a complete personality switch.

"Hope he's okay", she glanced across at the two remaining Mobians of the Chaotix, respect lacing her tone as she finished, "you two look after him okay?"

"No problem; he's been worse before and the winter looks to be a mild one this year", Charmy assuaged her concerns before pointing her out again, "anyway he'll be fine until morning; now you better have your go or we'll still be playing by the time he's up again". Rouge chuckled, won over by the bee's ability to find a constant bright side no matter the situation, picked up the dice by her side and, with a gleam in her eyes determined to assuage itself with glee and fun, threw them onto the table.

XXX

"I'll 'and it to ya now Charm", with all the guests finally left, all the food eaten and the fine drink drunk, the bee perked up with mug halfway to his lips as he heard Vector's voice float over from where he was sprawled in his favourite armchair, sharing a nightcap with his friend before they both turned in, "that was a corker you picked up this time 'round".

"Ah, the game don't matter, it's the people playing it you know that", the now-adult bee brushed off the praise with an affable shrug, "shame Tails couldn't stay though, I reckon a technical thing like that'd be right up his alley; maybe we could lend it to them in Station Square sometime?"

"Mebbe", Vector agreed before taking another draft of eggnog, recalling the scene from earlier in the morning; the foxboy had let himself in through their front door and declared that Santa Claus had arrived; _though he did have some good stuff in the back of that Tornado of his, gotta hand that to him_; "oh, I 'anded all the presents 'e left out before everyone went – hadda get back to Cream no doubt, 'specially today of all days". Charmy sniggered for a minute before trying to stick up for his mammalian friend,

"Don't be rotten – you heard as well as I did he's spending the holiday with his brother and Amy; Cream's away at the grandparents with her mum".

"I know, I's just teasin'. Anyway, drink up", taking his own advice, Vector downed the dregs and then stood up, "we gotta get the clearin' up done, and don't look at me like that", he warded off the bee's horror-struck expression with a stern glance, "same every year or all the grease'll be impossible ta shift come tomorrow". _Damn crocodile logic_; once more Charmy was left without a logical argument as he mumbled into his now empty cup; _just like armadillo logic but it makes more sense. Right, let's get this over with_; with a weary nod of his head the insect came groggily to his feet and nodded – without another word, Vector led him into the kitchen, starting to run a bowl of hot water as Charmy, yawning his way into the early hours of Boxing Day morning, started to laboriously gather up the condiments and sweep away any detritus still left at the table.

XXX

_No, not a chance_; with a bad-tempered growl Espio finally gave up and threw off the covers; _not sleeping at all, but I can't go downstairs either_. Shuffling around on his bed the chameleon pawed his eyes, about the only bit of him that actually felt tired at all; the rest of him was prickling with heat, restless and buzzing worse than Charmy in a flowerbed; _gotta get out of here, it's too hot_. And, unusually for a reptile, the bedroom he shared with Vector did seem unfeasibly warm; lurching upright, the chameleon tottered forwards a little before catching his balance and reaching forwards, groping for the door handle, something like a destination finally settling itself in his mind; _yeah, make sense with my belly gurgling worse than our old washing machine_.

A few minutes later, sat down on the refreshingly cool seat of the toilet he leant forwards, chin on his fist as he felt himself begin to zone out, the same way he did every time he needed to pass stool or water; it was strange now he thought about it. He sat down, stared forwards and that was it, didn't remember anything until he was washing his hands afterwards – normally he didn't give it a second thought but now, he realised as he shifted about uncomfortably on the plastic seat, it was amazing how much you missed a little something like that when it was gone. _And I could use it right now_; the chameleon closed his eyes as he felt something moving in his nether regions and it didn't feel comfortable in any way – in fact if anything it was akin to a hot, sticky wave of warm moving inexorably slowly forwards and down at the same time; _no matter_. He thrust the purely physical to the back of his mind, the results of his endless hours of meditation coming to his aid now he had need of them – focussing on his breathing, he closed his eyes and remembered the most basic of lessons in the face of the increasingly uncomfortable heat and cramping; _the pain or suffering is in the end meaningless – as long as this process aids me in some way it will be worth it al-arrgh!_

Just this once his training failed; the chameleon's eyes shot open, fists bunching so tight he felt his nails in his palms even through his scales as this process evidently climaxed itself; the wave suddenly broke and the heat was without, rather than within him. _What, what was that?_; reflexively he sent his hands to explore what his eyes could not, he couldn't move them down enough to see what had happened, every thought process in his head area was bent towards deducing the sensations that had just swept through him; _never felt that before – what was…_ At that point, finally, his glove came back to his eye level.

And in the next second, as though galvanised by the sight of the redness on his bare scales, breaking through all the barriers he'd tried to set before it with all the might of his self-imposed ninjistu training, Espio Chameleon remembered, had no choice but to remember, that what he'd just felt was not an isolated incident.

It had happened once before and the power of that dread memory, striking the one flaw in his iron resolve, shattered it completely.

XXX

The system was working well; Vector was washing up and Charmy was keeping the draining board clear from him with the air of kitchen towels and drying up cloths, taking a second out every now and then to yawn and stave off sleep for just a few more minutes. It was slowly eating its way into the mountain of clearing up the two Mobians had set themselves up to tackle, with any luck, the crocodile guessed muggily, they'd be done, washed up and in bed before two o'clock.

However, that was before they heard the strangled screaming, coming from upstairs in a symphony of terrified agony.

One instant there were two Mobians in the kitchen, in the next they were side-by-side up the stairs, adrenaline flooding the sleepiness from their systems as they both homed in on the horrid noises clawing at their eardrums like skeletal fingers. They crested the stairwell with Charmy slightly ahead; pin-pointing the location of the screaming's source the bee hammered on the bathroom door, fear for a friend's sake lending power to his blows and strength to the voice he was sure had completely dried up a second ago,

"Esp!" There was another sob from behind the wood panel; _thank God, he's in there_; trying to still his pounding heart and inject some calmness into his tone the bee spoke through to his obviously traumatised friend, "Esp, it's all right mate, Vec and I are here", he tentatively tried the handle only to find the door locked from the inside and worse, his attempt to gain entry only resulted in another shriek from the chameleon,

"No, g'way! Go away, leave me _alone_!" _What is this madness?_; never before had he heard Espio so outright horrified and in denial of his friends, and certainly never had he seemed so frightened; bereft of other ideas the bee looked desperately to his left for hope, inspiration, anything!

"Vec"; _he's the leader, he'll be able to sort it all out_; a childish hope maybe but a hope wished with a pure heart nevertheless – Charmy honestly didn't care what it took, he just wanted Espio to stop his petrified, anguished crying and if it took Vector's interference to do such a thing then that would be a price worth paying, "Vec, get over here, wha'do we do?"

_No_; the smell had stopped his charge at the top of the stairs, Charmy had only carried on because he lacked a crocodile's nose for certain aromas, and one of those aromas was now reaching Vector's nostrils in great, overpowering waves; _this isn't real – it's just a bad dream_. He was so convinced of this reasoning that he even pinched the flesh of his arm to try and dispel the evil illusion, and not even the pain he felt at such an action convinced him he was wrong; it was only at Charmy's shout that he regained the use of his body once more,

"Vec, Vec get over here, wha'do we do?" For a second he was rooted to the spot still, unable to comprehend the magnitude of what he was seeing, hearing and scenting all at the same time – that paralysis only broke when he heard the chameleon holed up in the bathroom give another heart-reading lament and he stormed forwards, resolve in his mind and to hell with privacy,

"Out the way"; Charmy was sent sprawling as the crocodile roughly shoved him aside and made ready; as he threw himself to his feet, the bee gabbled frantically,

"What are you doing?"

"Kicking the door in"; _what?!_;

"Are you…?" Vector's eyes darted sideways for a split-second, no more than that and the bee fell completely silent, not daring to distract him any more – just the merest glimpse of those eyes had answered his unspoken query and convinced him that yes, in Vector's opinion what he was about to do next was absolutely necessary in delivering Espio from whatever was torturing him so cruelly.

XXX

The lock wouldn't hold, it never did; it was powerless, a useless thing against the force being levered against it again and again, unmerciful blows breaking down the pitiful defence, the only one that was ever in the way of such violent anger. Once more through the shattered windows of a broken spirit the chameleon watched on, aware of fingers scrabbling and feet kicking, the body a ruined, polluted soul inhabited trying to make itself as small as possible in the belief that if it did nothing would ever happen to it, there would always be protected and safe, a belief the now-separated mind had long ago discounted as untrue. Seeing but unseeing at the same time, unable even to cry any longer as at last the strength of the kicks made the lock ping and the door flew open, Espio looked up almost as though bored at the face of a monster.

XXX

The lock went, the bathroom door flew open and even before Vector had lowered his foot Charmy was in; he took in all he could of a scene, confused purple, white and red, ruby red all over the white floor…his chest hitched uncontrollably at the sight of the blood; clapping his hands over his mouth he turned around, almost falling forwards into the crocodile behind him as Vector too saw the grisly sight before him and was similarly struck dumb, the smell of the chameleon's vitae heavy in his nose as he swallowed, throat too thick to even speak through. He felt movement in his arms and loosened his grip without meaning to, allowing the insect he held to turn around, take a second look at the scene that had burned its way into his memory forever.

There was blood all over the floor and from where he couldn't tell; in fact at first he barely noticed it – all his attention was on Espio, the way he was huddled in a tight ball between the side of the toilet and the wall, legs and tail curled up protectively, face buried in his knees, unable or unwilling to confront those who had invaded his private sanctum. Even as the kaleidoscope of images forced their way into his mind and he tried to make sense of them his eyes, ever alert and watchful, saw first the tip, then the shaft and then finally the whole of the chameleon's horn emerge from the foetal ball he'd buried it in, the eyes underneath the sharpened natural spike all at once terrified, vulnerable and, even as he watched on, beginning to close out the world again, bury such a weakness beneath the mask everyone understood as being Espio Chameleon.

XXX

Spilt in two, the memory and the reality, Espio was a helpless passenger in the nightmare; any moment now he'd hear the speech, the herald of the coming wrathful storm, then it would end but always come back, it never truly ended. Cowering in a tiny niche, praying to a God that had surely turned his face away a long time ago, the chameleon whispered fractured prayers for help and deliverance, prayers that were never answered no matter how reverent the belief in them. _Please let it end_; the same plea every time – waiting for the worst was almost as terrible as being subjected to it; _please, just make it go away, even just hurry up and then let me go_. But still nothing happened and the wait was intolerable; with wet, streaming eyes Espio had no choice but to slowly, increment by increment, raise her gaze and see what punishment awaited this time.

_Two?_; doubt, for the first time a doubt rose in the solidarity of her nightmare; _there was always only one, never more than that. And I know them_; to teary vision the Mobians at the door were blobs of green and black/blonde but that didn't matter, nothing else did except the names that bubbled upwards, disturbed by the shift in thinking; _I know these Mobians, they're called Vector, and there's Charmy as well, he's a bee – they're my friends – they're not going to hurt me._ It was the rallying cry, the beginning of the fight back, what all the training had been for and now, now as the chameleon gritted teeth and exerted every muscle, sinew and ounce of mental strength, it was a fight back where retreat was not an option and surrender could not even be considered; _they have seen too much already because of my weakness_; the shameful revelation was a spur, a driving force to crush this serpent forever; _and because of that all I can do is limit the damage now. Control it, master yourself_; the chameleon repeated mantras that were inscribed in both heart and memory, all focussing on one single, vital goal; _control!_

XXX

He could almost see it happening; even as Vector watched on with his arms still around Charmy's shoulders, something seemed to radiate downwards from the tip of the chameleon's horn, soothing out the terror etched on Espio's face and body both, smoothing it out and replacing it with another force – colder, more concentrated than mere fear, it drove back the nightmare and replaced it with something else, something equally as powerful, and, as far as Vector could work out, equally as dangerous as far as he and Charmy were concerned.

Espio's eyes snapped open suddenly and he fell back several steps, almost dragging Charmy with him and still mute, unable to utter a sound. Silence fell in the bathroom, nothing moving or making a noise as slowly and deliberately the chameleon pulled himself to his feet, the toilet on one side and the bath on the other acting as his supports as her slowly stood erect again, gazing squarely at the mess on his legs and all around him before settling his determined stare on the Mobians who had invaded his sanctity, the auburn hues of his irises as focused as a laser beam,

"This", the word was growled harshly, almost spat out like a mouthful of poison as the chameleon indicated the wretched state of the bathroom, the gore congealing on the white lino and the condiments near the toilet scattered around the floor like leaves in autumn, "changes nothing. I am having a shower, then I am going to bed after I have cleared this up. We will discuss this later, do you understand?"

A hundred questions jumped into Vector's mind all together and he couldn't pick out a single one to ask, lips still clamped together as though snared as the chameleon, taking great care not to sully the soles of his boots with the blood on the floor, picked his way across the bathroom floor and then quickly slammed the door shut in the faces of his friends.

XXX

For how long after that he stood there staring at the blank wall of wood, even when he heard the shower start to hum and run down a rain of warm water, Vector would never know; somehow though he ended up downstairs, sat at the kitchen table with all thoughts of such mundane things such as washing up long gone from his head, as was the blissful amnesia sleep might have offered him – how could he sleep now? His mind was on fire with what had just happened; as though someone had turned a new page in the banks of his memory and begun writing again, he couldn't remember anything about what had happened earlier on in the night, not even the name of the game he and all his friends had finished not an hour or so ago. All he could see now, and how he wished more than anything else in the world that he could somehow unsee such an evil vision, was Espio in the bathroom with blood splashed everywhere, watered down with other fluids but still just red, red blood; how had this come about? What had gone on in that bathroom between him and Charmy hearing their team mate scream and actually seeing him? And, most urgently of all, what were they both supposed to do now, now they knew the one thing he could concretely say about…?

"Vec?"

It was a ghostly whisper; Charmy glanced up as though as afraid the crocodile would snap at his words but Vector knew he wouldn't – he was just too shocked to pick fights with anyone now. Blinking and turning his head towards the bee as an answer, he gave the youngest member of the Chaotix enough courage to finish the question he wanted to ask, even if he was as disbelieving of the answer as Charmy was himself,

"Vec", the bee said again, tears glistening in his eyes before he finally dredged up the courage he needed to say the next few, fatal words,

"Esp's a girl, isn't he?"

"Yeah", the crocodile breathed back dumbly; how such a thing could have come to pass was beyond him but he knew, about the only thing he knew, was that there was only one explanation as to the source of the blood on the bathroom floor,

"Yeah, I guess he must be".

A/N: A final time I repeat my warning – from here it just gets darker. To my long-term reviewers, one not so serious question; was the humour at the start good, and a serious question; did you, in any way, shape or form, see that twist coming?


	2. Chapter 2 Shocks, Changes and Videotape

Chapter 2 – Shocks, Changes and a Videotape.

A/N: It's taken a while but I hope it's worth it – hopefully I'll soon be getting a new job to sort out my hours and give a bit more precious time at the computer writing. Before we get launched into the new chapter, the reviewers:

Ri2: Yes, Espio is…but what effect will this have on everyone else?

Softmints (SM from here on in): No this isn't the last one but a good way yet; believe me I'll tell you when it gets to that point. Just one thing though, what did you mean by the 20,0 bit in your review? It confused me, but thanks for the encouragement; always nice to read about people liking what I'm writing.

A laugh, feeble and shaky, permeated the still air over the table; forehead leant on one palm Charmy rested its weight on one elbow as his eyes rolled upwards, trying to hold Vector still in his vision as the crocodile stared blankly into space, deadened by the shock of what they'd both just seen,

"How?" Knowing the fact was one thing but quite another was the question he had to ask next, "how's that possible? We've lived with him, her…"; _Christ_; even the gender tense sounded false as the bee tried to staple a feminine label to the chameleon he'd known for the last five or more years and drew a big, fat X; _five years, now this – but there's just no way we couldn't have seen this coming – how did we miss it?_; "…for ages; how long have we been the Chaotix now? I know he's a master of stealth and secrecy but how could Esp've pulled the wool over our eyes for this long – I mean, did you know?"

"No", Vector shook his head mutely, mind still swirling like a ship caught in a maelstrom, tossed this way and that by raging throes of clashing, storming emotions and mnemonic flotsam, "'e, or she, neva said a thing, an' don't beat yerself up fer not seein' nuthin'; it's 'ard t'tell gender wi' lizards like us. I mean, we dun 'ave", he indicated the top half of his chest, "fer a start". Charmy chuckled, pointing out the areas Vector had highlighted with a mischievous smile on his lips, humour as always his escape from a surreal twist of fate, a rift in the previously ordered stability in his life,

"I don't know; keep scoffing those chocolates and pies like you were packing them away today and you'll end up with a decent set". Vector scowled but, unusually, did nothing more to reprimand the bee's cheeky remark. It was as though the shock was too vast for his mind to fully comprehend; the fact that his oldest friend, a Mobian he'd known since Espio had signed up to his old senior school, had suddenly transformed from a male mate to a female friend overnight, defied rational classification so soon after the event and, as such, he was left with nothing but pure, unfettered logic and serenity to answer questions Charmy put his way, impudently or otherwise,

"No fear o' that, coupla games of throw Rouge'll put paid to that. But anyway, 'part from that when yer lookin' at reptiles as a very general rule o' thumb the girls ain't quite as big as the lads, an' they tend ta be a bit lighter in colour; 'course", he shrugged as Charmy similarly saw the flaw in that method of prediction, "Esp bein' what he…she…it", the bee had to smile again at that, a smile of sadness true but a genuine smile nevertheless as Vector ground his jaws together in frustration and disbelief before settling on something like a compromise, "is, that'un don't really apply".

"Tell me about it – oww, I'm getting a headache", the bee moaned, massaging his temples as tiredness and mental turmoil tag-teamed his will to stay awake; _sleep soon, but not yet. There's something I need to find out first_; and he did, he wasn't going to risk putting a foot out of line here if only for the fact that with the mood Espio was in he was likely to end up with a ninja blade skewering it to the floor,

"So", Vec looked up again, stirred from his quasi-trance by the bee's sighed word, "what do we do now?"

The question was a point Vector could do two things with; he could focus on it and, drawing on that focus, figure out a very short-term plan to try and clear the air for tonight at least. Acting on such a thought the crocodile somehow lurched upright, barely able to feel anything from his limbs as he swayed to his feet, Charmy across the table mirroring his actions and for once agreeing with his elder team mates instructions without quarrel or comment,

"We go ta bed mate, no point stayin' up an' beatin' our brains out tryin' ta think of anything now. Much as I 'ate to say it what 'appens next is gonna be pretty much up ta Esp, though knowing, her"; _even if I know nothing about her_; Espio he knew something about but now he was in a sense gone, a mask discarded by the hand of fate and the inevitable onslaught of both time and the chameleon's maturity, who was this stranger that had been left caught out in the open?; _forget it. Like I'm saying to Charm figure it out tomorrow – just get your head down for now_; "I'd say keep yer manners about yer tomorra, catch me meanin'?" Charmy nodded, casting one final look at the still-undone washing up on the side and then looking away in disgust – no way that was being done tonight.

"Suits me; 'night Vec". As always as the bee walked past one of the crocodile's hands reached over his head, forcing him to brush the palm with his antennae as he lightly sucker-punched the taller Mobian in the floating ribs, the standard, informal goodnight ritual of the two Chaotix, only tonight it had no meaning. Both of them simply went through the motions unfeeling, groping blindly through the fug of unreality surrounding them – one of the major planks of stability in their combined lives have simply been ripped up from under their feet, and they were still in a sense falling down the hole such a violent removal had torn under them. Vector watched the bee depart up the stairs, seeing his drooping wings and trudging stride before managing to spark off movement in his own legs, following the path Charmy had laid down blindly, walking up the stairs without realising it, coming back to himself only when he stood in front of his bedroom door and he realised, had no choice but to realised, who was probably now inside it again.

Once more he was confronted with a door behind which he had no idea who he'd see; trying to take a deep breath, the crocodile recalled dimly what he'd seen previously, just before the bathroom door had come close to flattening his nose. Espios' face was calm, almost frighteningly so, her eyes radiating an almost feverish power that spoke of iron control no matter the cost – knowing that and how strong the chameleon's willpower was at even the worst of times, the crocodile came to the conclusion that he could just about trust her not to do anything completely stupid, at least not before they could all wake up in the morning and forge a path forwards together. _Just keep your head_; as he laid his hand on the door handle Vector breathed out in a measured, deliberate movement; _don't push her at all, don't ask for any explanations – just say goodnight, go to bed and we'll talk about this in the morning_. With his plan of action clear in his mind at last, the tall, lean green machine (as he occasionally nick-named himself when he was feeling a little buffer than normal) twisted the handle and stepped inside the room, blinking at the sudden darkness as he flicked the landing light off with his free hand before striding inside, trying to find his bed,

The room wasn't quite pitch-black; it actually faced a streetlight and therefore a small amount of orange glow always managed to peek around the corners of the blinds that obscured the large window. By the light of this neon signpost the crocodile saw almost without meaning to the rumpled sheets of the smaller of the two beds in the room, the rhythmic rise and fall of the covers that showed him someone was at home though, he reasoned as his almost-invisible ears picked up the sound of harsh, unsteady breathing from the vicinity of Espios' bed, probably not yet in the land of Nod,

"Esp?" _Damn_; the word was out of his mouth before he could control himself – even as he tried to stitch together a rope-ladder to clamber out the pit he'd just dug himself the answer came back to him, the tone clipped, short and altogether the voice of someone who did not want a conversation of any sort,

"What?"

"Nuthin'"; it was far from his ideal solution but it was all he could come up with, "see'ya in the mornin'". In a strange reason he was glad when the chameleon didn't answer, merely shifted around in his mountain of blankets in answer; without another word the crocodile crossed the room to his own bunk and sat down on it, fiddling with gloves, shoes and socks in no particular order, trying not to let his eyes stray to the other bed in the room but at the same time unable to prevent himself getting one or two looks in. Only just remembering to put his special wrist-watch on the table next to the head of his bed so just in case the electrical net around the Master Emerald shrine was breeched for some reason the inbuilt alarm would penetrate even his deepest sleep, Vector finally heaved himself into bed and stretched out, the blanket falling over his body warm and welcoming as he sought sleep. Sleep that, when it did eventually arrive, came at a heavy price; throughout the night his dreams were drowned in animalistic fear, the scent of blood and the sight of a mere child, trying to be strong in the face of a nameless terror that, try as he might, he could not deliver her from.

The only mercy, if there could be such a thing where night chills such as these were concerned, was that when the light of day dawned clear and crisp with the winter sun, such was the disorganisation and outright chaos they had run rampant in his mind that the crocodile would be unable to recall even fragments of them; all he would have instead would be a lingering grip of malaise and a vague fear that he might be coming down with something unpleasant.

XXX

Even before she felt her eyes open, the realisations crashed down on her with the force of the fist of God himself; gritting her teeth and screwing her eyes shut, Espio knew that today, a day she had unconsciously put off for as long as she could possibly get away with it in order to spare her then-fractured sanity, was the day that all her efforts at strengthening herself would be put to the test – either she would be able to brazen this out or she would not, and if she found herself lacking…; _I will not!_ Already she was pushing back and she was proud of herself, in that small way, accepting the basic tenants of her exhaustive training already despite the massive psychological trauma that had befallen her last night; _acceptance of doubt is the first step of failure and I will not fail. I will not fall prey to something that should have stayed buried – I should not have fallen prey to it yesterday night either._ That was a sore point, one Espio willingly drove herself onto as she opened her eyes for the first time that morning; no matter the circumstances that devolution into a screaming milksop had been embarrassing at best and a serious insult to her new way of life at worst; _I must grow stronger from this. What happened last night, must not happen again or the others will grow only more suspicious and they're probably already that now. I must blunt that curiosity, they have no right to know what happened, or why I have become what I am now_.

It was that question that was on her mind as, after testing the air with her arm, the chameleon threw off her blankets and stood up, a little more ungainly than usual perhaps but she made it to her feet smoothly enough nevertheless. _Enough, purge the doubt from your mind_; forcing her head up she stopped looking downwards – she had walked around unclothed for long enough now, why should she be forced to change for something petty such as this? Glancing towards the other bed in the room, the chameleon drew in a deep, disdainful sniff; as usual Vector was still out cold and for that reason she both despised and pitied him equally. He had his failings and he admitted them rather than seeking to overcome them; Charmy was the same and, if anything, more of a distracting influence than he was; fools like that, who were happy to just reach a ceiling and never aspire to better themselves – she couldn't understand it, her philosophy didn't include any chapters about dealing with cheerful idiots such as her team mates. All she could do was try to live and let live, warn them off when they were treading on thin ice and, up until now, that policy had worked adequately; _problem is_; once more she cursed herself, the fact her mental resolve had not been powerful enough to contain her shock at the first blood of her coming of age, of her making such a scene when it would have been better to keep the entire messy affair as quiet and discrete as possible; _now this fact is in the open, I have a feeling they're going to be doing more trespassing into my private affairs than I feel comfortable with_. Sliding on her gloves and shoes as she thought, Espio bent her thoughts at the immediate problem, putting the issue of improving her mastery of mental state to the back of her mind as she tried to come up with a way to keep the two team mates off her back.

Her already black mood wasn't lightened in any way by the sight that greeted her in the kitchen, with a shake of her head the chameleon realised the mountain of washing up before her wasn't going to get shifted any time soon. It was so typical of them – first sign of any sort of trouble and they abandoned everything to get to the source of the problem and straighten it out; _nothing wrong with that of course, though last night was a case I didn't want as common knowledge. What really annoys me_; and as her eyes travelled along the row of unwashed plates and dishes her irritation spiked again as she forced out a low exhalation, striving to keep her temper; _is the fact that even after they drop it they forget to pick up where they left off. They should have finished this last night – because they haven't this is going to be almost impossible to shift now it's had time to dry on._ Without another word she crossed over to the sink, wrinkled up her nose at the stagnant soup of cold, greasy water that had been left to ferment there overnight, tipped out the washing up bowl carefully and began to run in some clean, clear water, her mind racing all the time as she thought about how she could set about tackling her next two tasks. As steam began to coil about her face as she set to washing the dishes mechanically, the hot vapours caressing where her tears had fallen the previous night, Espios' face remained forwards, not even looking at what her hands were doing as her eyes went blank, the mind behind them dedicated to both limiting the damage the fallout of the bombshell that had detonated last night was going to have and beyond that, a strategy to make sure she never again fell prey to such a disgusting lapse of concentration.

How long she remained where she was, mechanically doing some washing and, when the draining board creaked under the weight of the sud-covered dishes, drying up as well, the chameleon couldn't say; all she knew was the progress she was making on the two most important goals that had recently forced their way into her life. By the time she was interrupted there was a basic framework in place, all that was needed to make it truly workable was the addition of a little more serious contemplation when, as she had always at the back of her mind known it would, there was a clatter of booted feet down the stairs, the sound and rush of air of a door swinging open and a sudden, startled exclamation,

"Oh, umm"; _is it that hard to think of a greeting?_; once more Espio rolled her eyes up at the apparent imbecility of her team mates before, with a note of fear that would have shamed a ninja evident in his voice, the other Mobian managed to mumble something that might have counted as an attempt at conversation, "morning?"

XXX

Charmy's mind was still as muddled now as it had been last night; though unlike Vector he had never been prone to nightmares at all, in fact he barely ever remembered his dreams at all when he woke up, since first light on this cold, cruel Boxing day he'd been able to think of nothing else other than Espio and how she was feeling with what had happened in the night. He'd lain awake in his bed, unable to sleep but afraid to get up in case he bumped into her accidentally and was caught with nothing to say, unusually trying to rationalise something to say when the time came rather than just making it up off the cuff as he normally did. Eventually it had been only his gurgling stomach, miraculously empty again despite his attempts to fill it all through Christmas day, that had prodded him enough to get him upright, dressed and heading downstairs. Still, despite his twin hungers for both sustenance and to see if his team mate was awake and coping with the situation well, at the sound of water sloshing around from the kitchen the bee drew himself up short, definite unease seeping though his mind as he tried to remain calm and remind himself that he had to dissuade his curiosity this time around – assuming it was Espio in there, anything he would hear was going to have to be what she was feeling inclined to tell him; doing any digging in this area would be insensitive at best, potentially dangerous for both of them at worse. _Take it cool_; he repeated his thoughts like a mantra as he descended the stairs, eyes almost shut as he reached to bottom of the hallway; _just remember no matter what happens, Espio will always be Espio – he might be a she now but apart from that nothing's changed._ That was the idea in his mind as he pushed open the kitchen door and, seeing the familiar purple back of the stranger stood by the sink, raised his hand in a weak greeting,

"Oh"; _it is her, not Vec – come on now focus, just stay calm and keep your head_; "morning?" It wasn't much of a greeting he was the first to admit but at such short notice it was all he could come up with; with nervous eyes he watched on as Espio's back quivered for a second before like a rain of razor blades the voice he recognised so well lanced out to rebuff his well-intentioned words,

"Is it now? Oh yes, so it is", through the misty kitchen window Charmy could just about pick out the chameleon's face as she looked up, seeing his smudged reflection as her voice began dripping sarcasm, "well done Charmy, once more the prize for stating the absolutely obvious has your name written all over it".

_Yep_; reality reasserted itself with the usual stab of annoyance and hurt that nipped at him every time his good intentions were shot down by the chameleon, which was usually more often than not; _that's still Espio all right_;

"So", drawing himself out a seat at the table the bee rose up with his wings to reach the cupboards above the countertops – adult he might have been now but it seemed that in his case great age didn't immediately translate into great height, "want anything for breakfast? Green tea?"

"Yes", for the first time now Espio turned around; as he found himself face to face with his team mate once more Charmy had to fight off the twin impulses of fear and hysteria that sprang from the gory visions of the previous night as the look in the chameleon's eyes told him in no uncertain terms that neither of them would have been suffered gladly. As he hovered transfixed, one arm holding the cupboard he was rifling through half-open, the bee saw as though in slow motion Espio's nostrils dilate, the breath that swelled her lungs, her lips slit apart and, finally, heard the next words she spoke, the tone still the same as it had been since the day she'd nearly run him over and, as an inadvertent consequence, actually ended up forming the Chaotix in the first place,

"After that, sit yourself down and we'll wait for Vector…"

"Not surfaced yet has he?" _Damn_; even as the annoyance exploded in pupils ringed with auburn Charmy cursed his errant tongue; _do not interrupt, especially not today_;

"…no he hasn't, please don't cut across me like that again", touching back down on the floor the bee lowered his head, antennae drooping and the sight of such forlorn capitulation allowed Espio to continue putting her rudimentary plan into action, "so, we wait for him because there are a few things I need to make you aware of after what happened last night. Don't mention last night", her tone was suddenly sharp, forcing Charmy to lower his head again as he'd glanced up at the reminder, "I'll come to that later. You understand?"

"Yeah, I get it"; _nothing more? No_; for once Charmy's reaction was limited to a handful of words and for that she was grateful – most of the time she found his incessant twittering aggravating but today it would have just been unbearable, so she was more grateful than she let show on her face when, having dug something out of the cupboard for his breakfast, he flicked on the switch of the kettle and sat down, waiting just as she was for the last piece of the puzzle to make his appearance so this hatchet could be buried for all time.

XXX

_No time for a lie-in today mate_; and there wasn't, in fact even as his sluggish mind formed the thought Vector found himself lurching to his feet, the normal protests that he was leaving behind a warm, comfortable bed dissipated in the face of a sudden, desperate thirst for two things. Primarily, having glanced to the side of him and realised the other bed in the room was unoccupied, he needed to find Espio and reassure himself that she, as he now had no choice but to recognise her gender, was okay with everything and, having completed that self-imposed objective, he needed to find out why she'd been holding out on everyone like that. _Though, gotta be careful how I word my questions – like I said to Knuckles once, going in all guns blazing's not an option here_; and it wasn't – trying to get anything like a straight answer out of the chameleon was a hard enough job at the best of times but something like this, there wasn't a hope in hell he was going to find out anything she wasn't willing to divulge. But even that certainty held questions for his mind to pick away at – all right so he was fairly certain that while Espio had her reasons for hiding the fact she was, in effect, a she, why had she reacted so badly to what, he assumed, was her first menstruation? Hadn't she known what was eventually going to happen to her at some point in her life, even if as a reptile her physiology was a little different to that of mammals; if Vector remembered rightly species such as his had slightly fewer periods per annum than warm-blooded creatures, but they tended to be heavier when they did occur. _Hence the state of the bathroom last night_; again the crocodile shivered as even after a night's sleep the scene immediately after him staving the door lock in was far from a pleasant one; _and the fact she's older than the average – we mature later than everyone else because overall we hang around a bit longer. I mean look at granddad_; for a second a smile broke out over the crocodile's long jaws, visions of some of his family members in all their unadulterated glory providing a bit of support in these uncertain, unsettled time for him and his team; _six-pack a day smoker and he still made it to ninety-odd, tough-skinned old bleeder that he was._

Almost as soon as he formed the thought his smile faded and his knuckles rose to the bridge of his nose, pressing into the scales there in an effort to try and make sense of a situation gone completely mad. Despite the difficulties he'd pointed out last night Charmy's question still rang true in the air, the bee's voice ghosting back to him like a sibilant whisper – how had Espio pulled the wool over their eyes for so long, his especially? It just made no sense and that worried him; he knew better than anyone that he was sharper than the average despite outward appearances, so to have been so completely blindsided like this was a rare and worrying event; _and even more so knowing that the only way out of it's to trust Esp him, herself_. Once more he mentally corrected his thoughts and struggled to do so; despite the overwhelming evidence, it was still difficult to turn back the clock eight years or so, for it had been near enough that long ago when a skinny purple rake had knocked his elbow outside the school gates and asked where his new form room was, and pencil in a completely different sex to such a familiar face and personality. It was a hard struggle and, as he finally slapped both palms down on the mattress beside him and pushed himself to his feet, it was one he still hadn't fully resolved even as he shook his head to clear it and made his way slowly towards the kitchen door. _Everyone else is probably already up and about_; suddenly the thought didn't fill him with as much cheer as it should have done, if anything it slowed his chill-laden trudge even further; _so downstairs, we all just get together and face the music. Something tells me though_; even as he formulated the thought he paused at the top of the stairs as something akin to a long, slow sigh whistled from his two nostrils, both his eyes closed in fortifying preparation for whatever lay ahead; _this isn't going to be a beat any of us are going to enjoy much._

XXX

Despite his grim predictions, however, not even Vector could have possible imagined how despicably dire the atmosphere swirling around the kitchen table was going to be; he could virtually feel the dead hands of both a dreadful guilt for knowledge and solemn resolve not to sate this need for information combining to squash him into the floor from the bottom of the stairwell. But he could not go back; the only way led onwards because only then, after this morning following a shedding of blood was over was their any hope of lifting the shutters and blowing away the tension that palpably drowned everything else in the house out completely. Trying hard to control both his breathing and his core body temperature, hugging closely to the radiators as he moved towards the kitchen door, the crocodile reminded himself that he had to act casual to put everyone else at ease, then consciously reminded himself again to make sure his sluggish brain got the message and only then, finally convinced that he was as ready for the task awaiting him as he was ever likely to be, Vector reached out and pulled the door open, striding through with a muffled greeting on his lips,

"Mornin' all; is the kettle goin'?"

"Just boiled", Charmy replied, sounding about as down as Vector felt and for some reason that hurt; the bee was after all only just an adult, so to have to cope with something like this…with an effort the crocodile wrenched his thoughts away from such considerations – though Charmy was a serious concern right now he had to take second place to…

"Ah, finally".

"Whoa", disrupted right in the middle of rationalising his choices Vector launched himself upwards in fright, spinning on the spot as he landed to see Espio, seemingly unfazed by his panicked shout, roll her eyes in irritation and jerk her head irritably towards the kitchen table.

"Sit down, I'll make the tea"; _right, she's speaking and that's a good sign_; taking sustenance from this mere crumb of solace Vector did as he was bidden for the simple reason arguing would have been a waste of time – Espio had that killer look in her eye that said she was not going to take kindly to any kind of tomfoolery this morning. As he pulled out a seat, checking the chameleon had her back to him, the head of the former detective trio leant across, whispering out of the corner of his enormous jaws,

"Sleep okay?"

"No", Charmy's reply was likewise whispered, "barely a wink all night, like you?"

"Yeah, and I'm not hot this mornin' I can tell ya", the crocodile just about managed to whisper back before sitting straight and to attention as Espio turned around, three cups and a teapot on the tray in front of her. _She knows_; even from one as normally non-translucent as the ninja disciple Vector could plainly see that she'd noticed he and Charmy conversing behind her back and her sudden sour scowl told him in no uncertain terms what she thought about it, but to his unavoidable relief she seemed inclined to let it slide this once. His eyes tracked every step she took, keeping their vision from her chest and lower areas out of emotional politeness even if he logically knew there were no reasons for him to avert his gaze so as, like he'd told Charmy the previous night, Espio had no external indicators, not even the shade of her skin colour, to let passers-by know of her gender. _Though, truth be told, she should be wearing a bit of kit_; even as he formed the thought he was trying to frame a delicate way of putting his point across to the chameleon that she wasn't going to take offence to – it was a pretty tall order truth be told; _even out of politeness she should cover herself up, especially just after the monthly curse has had its fill…_;

"Right", once more her voice sliced through the tissue of his ideas; without him even noticing she'd sat down, a little beside but across from the other two members of her team, one eye pointing out each of them as she took both a sip of her green tea and a fortifying breath, obviously giving whatever speech she was about to give one last mental rehearsal before bringing it out into the open,

"Things are going to change around here now".

_Things are_; it was a very forceful start to a conversation Vector realised, running the words through his mind again; _not 'things will have to', 'things are' – she really is going for this_. That much he was certain of, but what he hadn't quite made his mind up on was, once he had listened to her proposals, should he accept them outright for the sake of team harmony or, if such a thing was made impossible by the unreasonable nature of her requests, argue them here and now? It was a difficult decision to have to make but, he realised as Espio once more commandeered his attention with another inhalation, obviously getting ready to divulge the changes she wanted to enforce on him and Charmy, he realised he had a little breathing space to make his mind up; _at least let's hear out what she's got to say before throwing a spanner or three in the works_;

"You all saw what happened last night; I'm not proud of it", the chameleon's eyes darkened but even as they did she torpedoed Charmy's fledgling helpful line with a scowl in his direction; as the bee slunk back into his corner she continued, brisk and businesslike in her tone now, "but it will not happen again. I am a female, but as I said last night that changes nothing; I am still Espio Chameleon first and foremost – understand that and we should get along…tolerably".

XXX

_I can't exactly say 'fine' there can I?_; even now she was honest with herself as she watched the other two Mobians present huddle together, forced to work together rather than having their own mental resolve strong or focussed enough to make their minds up on their own; _living with these annoyances was never going to be exactly easy or pleasant_. Still, she lived with them out of necessity – how else could she afford a place to live on her own – and also because, in a way, they were useful, complimenting strengths she did not yet herself possess. More than once Charmy exercising his wings instead of his jaw had been the only thing keeping them all out the firing lines, and Vector for all his bad taste in music and mangled pronunciation of the English language had been strong enough to tackle almost anything they'd been up against since taking on the job, though since Mighty had joined the team Espio did on occasion find herself questioning the logic in letting the green fool keep the illusion that he was in charge of the whole operation. _After all, if Knuckles and his grandfathers told us to clear out that'd be us on the pavement_; once more the chameleon was able to keep her expression blank and the thoughts that were blinking past behind her eyes shrouded from the other members of the Chaotix present; _and, while I will never be able to fly or knock my way through a wall like these two before me can, I'll learn new ways around obstacles such as that – there's always a solution to every such problem. And, when I do hit upon those answers_; she tried to look into the future, the sight before her not a particularly attractive one as Vector finally disentangled his jaws from next to Charmy's flying helmet, trying to whisper words she couldn't hear despite the fact she blatantly wasn't listening anyway; _well, time will tell what happens then_.

"Okay Esp", to her surprise it was Charmy who answered, the bee half-standing up in his seat to gaze across at her, "what, in your eyes, needs changing – you tell us your ideas, then we'll tell you ours, okay?" For a second the reptile said nothing and the bee was just about to repeat his proposal before she spoke once more,

"Suits me, so", once more her voice submerged, lowering her tone to give her words extra gravitas, "as far as I'm concerned I want two things; firstly, you both forget what happened last night – as far as I'm concerned it was an aberration that will not be repeated. You are also not to tell anyone else what happened, or that I am what I am; that is my decision and I expect you to respect my privacy in such matters, do you understand?"

"In a way", Vector nodded slowly, the look on his face telling the chameleon he narrowed his eyes at that he was trying to put two and two together and kept coming up with five, "mind if I ask why?"

"Yes – as I said before it's my business and I will deal with it"; _must make that perfectly clear here and now – not that my mind would ever change at all_; that much was certain as Espio prided herself on the fact that once she made her mind up about something she very rarely, if ever, changed her opinion of it; _but having to deal with the same questions over and over again would probably get annoying over time_; "apart from that, the second thing I want is some time off".

_That_ certainly broke the ice somewhat; Charmy and Vector were positively agog at the chameleon's request. Espio had never asked for a holiday in all the time they'd known her, she'd never so much as even been late for a stint at watching the Master Emerald since the Chaotix had started helping Knuckles shoulder the burden of the Master Emerald alongside the guardian couple. In fact if anything she'd always been witheringly scornful of anyone who didn't pull their weight unless they had a cast-iron excuse to be absent – the look on her face when she'd learnt Mighty would be taking three weeks off over the Christmas period would, in Charmy's colourful jargon, have shattered bullet-proof glass.

"O…um, okay", Vector gave a shrug, thrown completely off his stride by this idea, "suits us, y'could use a bit o'a breather. 'Ow long for?"

"Long enough, I must have accrued enough overtime", the chameleon cut back caustically before suddenly turning the tables, "I'll be absent for a while, you'll have to inform the guardians and anyone else who comes sniffing around looking for answers". Charmy looked pensive for a moment, almost as though he was wondering if speaking next was the right thing to do, before his courage pushed him over the edge and he went for it,

"What do you want us to say? Why not just say you've gone away visiting friends-stroke-family?"

"Use your brain buzz-boy, small as it is", Espio sighed wearily, shaking her head at the insect's apparently endemic stupidity, "I have no friends, outside Angel Island anyway. I trust you'll be able to come up with something believable; you usually have a list of excuses as long as your arm handy", for a second the reptile's face split into an unpleasant leer, her voice high in unkind mockery, "'oh no Knuckles, sight hiccup with the teleporter, all fixed now though, won't happen again' – sound familiar?"

"Mebbe", Vector's voice overrode the threat of an argument by dint of volume as he steered the conversation back the way he wanted it to go before Espio could get too personal with her attacks; _stressed she might be but there's no reason to snap at the buzz-boy like that_; "but you've said yer piece, can't see anythin' wrong wi'it, give ya that. Now it's our turn Esp, so clean yer ears out an' lissen up".

XXX

The chameleon folded her arms and settled her weight onto her back foot, watching her new opponent carefully as Vector swivelled in his seat to face her; an imbecile he might have been at times but Espio knew full well the price of underestimating him,

"First off, wi'what yer've said so far, no' gorra problem with it"; _that was suspiciously easy_; subconsciously the chameleon raised her guard as Vector steepled his fingers under his pointed chin, looking up at her as though sizing up what to say next, "yer want sum time off, fine, like you say yer've earned enough fer a break. Likewise what y'are an' who you tell 'bout it is up to you, Charm an'I ain't gonna throw a spanner into that one". Just to be sure Espio sent a glance towards where the bee was sat and, seeing her scrutiny, he gave a smile and slight nod; _good, last thing I needed for this was you opening your mouth_;

"Very well, but I get the feeling it's not all going to be such plain sailing?" The chameleon probed gingerly and was rewarded a second later with the sight of Vector nodding his head in resigned agreement,

"An' yer'd be right Esp; got no problem wi'you bein' whatever it is you wanna be, but I 'ave got issues with 'ow this is gonna come clashing wi'us, okay?" The crocodile indicated both himself and Charmy, the bee as always backing up whatever the older Mobian said with a downcast nod as Vector drew in a deep breath and spoke again, this time looking his chameleonic counterpart square in the eye as he made his demands,

"First thing's first Esp, no offence meant but I, we in fact, need y'ta cover yerself up a bit better than ya did last night…"

"As I said before", the ninja cut across him sharply, a bite of ice-cold impatience in her frigid voice, "that was a one-off mistake and will not happen again".

"…an' if yer'd let me finish", the crocodile soldiered on after squaring his shoulders, "yer'd have heard that we only need ya covered up when it's that time o'the month for ya, or 'owever long it might be for chameleons. Nuthin' against you but I don't wanna run the risk of another scene like that again promises or otherwise, understand?" Much as she'd have like to say otherwise he'd worded it quite neatly and given all the right reasons for his decisions and, as such, given Espio no room to manoeuvre a way out of grudging agreement,

"Yes", she said shortly, not quite looking at him as she did so, not giving him the satisfaction of seeing his victory hit home, "so what else is there?"

"Like you, there's just the two", Vector assured her, crossing his fingers under the table as he realised that of the two points he had to make, this one was going to be by far the sharper for the chameleon to stomach; after all, loner she might have been but the crocodile knew that this time of all times, any form of rejection even for the best of reasons was probably not going to go down well with her, "so, last thing, I need ya ta move out o' our bedroom, you see where I'm coming frum?"

This time there was no denying it; Espio's face fell in more than one dimension as her chin dropped to her shoulder; in a trice Vector was half-stood up to try and comfort her but before he'd so much as finished thinking about what he was going to do next her head had shot back up and transfixed him, auburn eyes pulsing with cruel humour, spitefulness and… something else, an emotion he could not quite place,

"Afraid I'll jump your bones in the middle of the night?" The chameleon looked away, a grim snigger on her lips as even Charmy, joke-lover extraordinaire, screwed his face up in disgust at both the words and the withering tone she'd delivered them in, "don't flatter yourself".

"I'm not", the crocodile grated back to her, his tone guttural and harsher than before, "it's just me; I'm no' comfortable sharin' wi'a girl, least of all one who's…just cycled – plays merry 'ell wimme sense o' smell, you see where I'm coming from?" His desperate hopes for understanding were dashed before his eyes as once more Espio gave her savage titter, the sound reverberating through the air to cut both emotions and tempers ever shorter by the minute,

"Oh that's rich, from you that's priceless – I'm the only girl who's ever been in your room and because of the fact I am a girl you're kicking me out of it".

"I'm not kicking you anywhere, yet", Espio slid her back foot along the floor at the inflected threat in the crocodile's rumble as he tried to keep a lid on his temper, already just below boiling point due to a rough night's sleep and the chameleon's acid tongue, "an' it's not 'cause you're a girl, it's…"

What it was, however, Vector never had to come up with as the tension in the air was broken with a shattering noise, a plate of frozen glass shattering around them as from the front room there came the distinctive trilling of the Chaotix's landline. And to Charmy's ears, already bruised by the veiled threats and insults that his contemporaries were slinging around through the turgid atmosphere, there had never been a sweeter sound.

XXX

Without a word the bee hopped down off his seat and scooted into the hallway, desperate to seize the chance of a respite before it slipped away. Both reptiles watched him take his leave, Vector waiting until he'd disappeared around the doorway before speaking again, his voice low and he beckoned Espio towards him, hoping against hope to make a last-ditch pax deal for Charmy's sake if nothing else,

"Okay Esp, it's simple, we go like-fer-like", the chameleon said nothing but he knew, somehow the crocodile just knew she was listening, "we'll keep clear o' whatever business yer've got, jus' cut us a bit o' slack this time 'round. Come on, if not fer anythin' else, fer 'im". _Emotional blackmail_; following his glance lazily Espio merely gave a mental shrug; _I wondered when you'd be reduced to that level. Not that it works on me at all, but…_; despite her reservations now she'd had a few seconds to mull her team mates' ideas over they seemed, if not ideal, at least something close to workable,

"Suits me", as Vector's face fell into the gormless position she knew so well the chameleon spoke once more, her voice as indifferent as she knew deep down she was, once the worthless emotion had been pared away by the logic that she knew ruled her life overall, "wait until he's off the phone, then we'll start changing rooms".

"Huh?" _Typical_; she bit down on her displeasure with great difficulty, Vector's bone-headedness as irksome as always; _come up with proposals but no idea of how to actually put them into practice_;

"Charmy and I will have to switch beds won't we – he'll have to share with you and I will have to move into his old room to appease your delicate nostrils", the chameleon sighed as she penetrated his idiocy with mercurial intelligence, "unless of course you want to end up bunking with Mighty, though I don't think Big would be all that pleased…"

"Shurrup – y'can be bitter at me if y'have ta be bu' don't drag someone into this mess who ain't even 'ere", Vector spoke back acidly, defending his absent armadillo team mate in the face of the chameleon's scorn, "anyway, sounds like a plan y'had, so we just wait fer…oh", the sound of the kitchen door opening made the crocodile look around in his seat, seeing Charmy reappear with what looked like a very convincing expression of befuddlement plastered on his face, " speak o'the devil; what's goin' on, who was it?"

"It was Rouge, she was…well, actually she just gave us all a helping hand I suppose", both reptiles looked singularly mystified as the bee shrugged and made his way back to the table, pulling up his seat a second later and resting his chin on the palm of his hand, "she mentioned something about a tape of some kind and wondered if she and Knucks could come over here to watch it".

XXX

Those words made two cold hearts stop beating entirely, through strangely enough it was Espio who was worse affected by the shock of Charmy declarations and, as such, Vector had the opportunity to react first. Almost leaping into the air in shock, the head of the ex-detective team exploded into life, staring at his juvenile team mate thunderstruck,

"She, you wha'? She's comin' over 'ere – Charmy, you didn't say yes?"

"No I didn't"; _thank you, there is a God_; almost without meaning to Vector saw Espio's skin start to flush back to purple as the sudden shock of the bee's words had almost turned her a brittle, frigid blue colour, typical of chameleons that were either scared or really cold; _heh, not seen you go a colour you didn't want to for a long time_. Even as one half of his mind gloated about Espio's impassive mask slipping to show a hint of the fear behind it, the crocodile forced the majority of his consciousness to heed what the bee was saying now and understand what it meant for the team as a whole,

"Okay, what did Red say then, an' how're we wound up in it. I never brought 'em a tape for Christmas; bit pointless really, they ain't got a player".

"Which is why she rang us", Charmy explained again, hands on the table as he enlightened his still-mystified colleagues, "she said that it was left on her doorstep when she and Knuckles rolled in last night in a little grey package, they opened it this morning and, since they can't play it, they're looking for someone who can. There's no note, no nothing about it, the tape's just got a little label on it saying 'The Truth' apparently".

"Sounds a bit sinister", Espio commented dryly before returned to business and looking at the bee directly, "so what did you say?"

"I told them to ring Shadow, after all he's got a bigger set than we have and", the bee held up his crossed fingers, indicating he felt they needed a hint of good fortune on this one, "she should be ringing us back if he's okay about everyone dropping in. I can't see why not, I don't see what the pair of them could have had planned for Boxing Day – if nothing else Tails isn't in the air".

"True, so we just…" Not for the first time Vector found himself cut off by the telephone; a minute or so later Charmy reappeared back in the doorway and, without needing anything like a prompt, spoke once more,

"Yep, it's a go; Shadow's got no problem with it and from the way Rouge was talking it sounded like she and Julie were already taking bets on what's on that tape", a smile suddenly flashed onto his face, mischief suffusing every inch of such an emotion as he grinned, "I just hope it's nothing incriminating, especially if it's Knuckles up to no good".

"You an' me both", Vector agreed, wincing at the mere thought of what fury Rouge could unleash if she thought herself a scorned woman; _probably make hell seem like stepping under a heat lamp_; "so, what time's the grand showin'?"

"Soon as we get there pretty much", the crocodile flicked his eyes sideways but Espio didn't catch his eye – obviously he was going to have to do this one the hard way, "so, boots on and pounding tarmac, we could get there for eleven if we're quick".

"Suits me, so", hands on his hips Vector swung ponderously around on one foot, the chameleon he levelled his gaze at not seeming to take much of an interest as he beheld her squarely in his vision, "what're we s'posed ta say 'bout you? I take it yer not comin'?"

"You take it correctly", Espio spoke quietly before suddenly perking up; _not sure I like that look in your eye now_; Vector tried to work out what might have made her smile in such a quirky, chilling manner but he was still too cold to work it out properly in his head before she spoke again, "and, as I said earlier, I'll trust it to you to put one of your numerous excuses to use, I don't much care which one. I shall make a start on packing up my affairs; I want us changed rooms by nightfall, understand?"

"Irrefutably", Charmy snapped back, his familiarity with longer words one of the few areas he could count himself superior to his misogynist team mate; he could already see the chameleon hadn't a clue what irrefutably meant and, as far as he was concerned, long may such ignorance continue, "c'mon Vec, let's go. We'll work something out en route, and get something to eat as well", he reminded himself as his gut gave a timely gurgle. Once more sacrificing his own wants for the sake of everyone else the crocodile let out a sigh of mourning for the breakfast he was never going to have before sloping out to get his own trainers on, noticing with interest Charmy was already booted up as he went past; _thought he was on the phone a bit too long_. Sliding the battered old footwear over his socks and making his customary mental note to buy a new pair next time he had the chance, he ignored where Charmy was standing by the door, desperate to be away from the house and its rank atmosphere or oppression for a minute and ducked his head back into the kitchen, seeing with a little relief the Chaotix left holding the fort was reasserting her normality by sorting out breakfast,

"Be back whenever, wan' anything while we're out?

"No, just go and", the chameleon's eyes closed for a second, something close to a regretful sigh slipping from between her lips; Vector made to move towards her but before he had a chance to react the spasm on internal weakness passed, swallowed as though it had never existed and banished from her entire body language as she met his concerned gaze head-on, eyes hard and diamond-edged as she finished, voice a low, cold murmur, "give everyone my regards".

Wisely keeping even his jaws shut, Vector simply said nothing, nodded and left the room, his expressions informing Charmy that there were to be no questions about this, at least not yet anyway; without another word other than the bee calling a hasty goodbye, the duo unlocked and unbolted the front door, slipped outside and departed the scene temporarily, leaving their troubled compatriot alone with her grim, brooding thoughts.

XXX

She was simply disgusted, that was all it was; she was just irritated and annoyed that she was being forced to do all this work just to appease someone else's sensibilities – as if they weren't always trampling hers into the carpet whenever it suited them! After she'd finished her moderate eating and, more to mull over the rest of her day plan than anything else, sorted out the rest of the washing up, Espio had sat back down at the kitchen table and shaken her head at it all; why _should_ she have to move anywhere? It was just like Vector to try a move like that one – come up with some cock-and-bull story to get his way, then make her feel like the party in the wrong when he eventually got it. She knew why he wasn't comfortable, oh yes, she knew the reason for that very well indeed; _in fact_; her eyes came up, a dark, secret scowl on her face as just for a second she stepped backwards into the same sort of memories that had ripped into her earlier but where now firmly bolted down under lock and key; _I'd reckon I know it better than he does. It's all about control , that's all it's ever been about – well you don't own me_; the chameleon bunched her fists, feeling the strength in her grip and reassured by it; all her hard work had paid off, she was the equal of anyone now, man, woman or child; _no-one owns me any more. I'll play this one your way Vector, but don't expect any more freebies out of me just because you think I'll swallow them like a girl._ Mind made up on that point, the chameleon put her logical mindset into gear and stood up, already blocking out the feelings of sluggishness circulating around her body in the cool morning air, forcing herself to go all-out despite her coldness, the first foot on the path to earning the fortitude she needed for herself and her peace of mind.

She didn't so much open the bedroom door so much as throw it open; without so much as a glance at the still-unmade bed Vector had surfaced from a half-hour ago, the chameleon crossed the room, threw open the wardrobe of the bedroom she had recently shared with the crocodile and began collecting her moderate affairs roughly, taking the few articles of clothing she did own and throwing them onto her bed in disgust. _Cover up, what's the point in that – if you didn't figure it out in eight or nine years, how's anyone else supposed to get the picture?_; almost as soon as the thought occurred to her she crushed it – she didn't need to know or even consider why, she was better off just not thinking about it, going from there and trying to focus on what really mattered. Even as she confirmed this thought in her own mind and began planning a way to distance herself from the two Mobians who had crumbled away from her, imposed strictures of their own upon her when she finally needed liberation, the chameleon narrowed her eyes in annoyance at the slight pain that stabbed into life just over her chest, an organ she'd tried for a long time to kill feebly flickering its protests to such a drastic course of action. _Quiet you_; in her own head she was the master – she would not be swayed from her goals by thinking of others who obviously thought little of her; bringing her hand to her chest she clenched it into a fist, symbolically breaking the barrier in her mind with a physical gesture, mind clear and unblemished by the tang of emotion just as it was after the effects of last night; _this is my life now – I don't need you telling me how I should live it. Last time I followed you it was a mistake_; cold, condensed flame burned in her eyes, the colour of her skin changing in response to her ire as she stood still for a moment, shuddering despite herself as once more she subjected her own emotions to the truth of their existence, the futility of their worth; _and ninjas do not repeat their mistakes._

XXX

"So, marks out of ten", the voice in his ear, as he knew it would eventually pipe up, made him turn his head and see, as he knew he would, Charmy hovering a couple of feet from the floor, stretching his wings as he face was drawn and pensive, glancing sideways at the crocodile next to him, "how'd you reckon it went?" _Nothing ever did keep you quiet for long, more's the pity_; well, he thought that but didn't actually mean it – though the bee's inherent chattiness did have its downsides on occasion, at times like this it was an invaluable release from pressures that might otherwise have forced Vector's skull to erupt.

"'Bout", the crocodile rested his chin in his hand, apparently totting something up in his mind before eventually answering, "six an' a half, mebbe seven at a push".

"That's what I thought", the bee confirmed, settling back down to the pavement as he did so, letting out his breath in a sigh, "what are we going to do with her…him – Christ I better not do that when we're over there".

"Too right ya better hadn't", the crocodile assured him, already repeating the mantra that Espio had somehow switched genders but they couldn't let the others know over and over in his head as the two of them cut through the Echidnopolis back streets, "anyway, we gotta come up wi' somethin' 'fore we get there".

"Actually, no we don't really", Charmy commented carefully, the words dragging Vector to a standing stop as he goggled at the bee in disbelief, "come on, you're not dumb, think about it. Last night Espio made an effort to be with everyone, so the fact he's staying in today – well, you'd expect that from him wouldn't you? Come on, even without…what happened", the bee said delicately, not quite ready to discuss that blood-soaked scene in any detail so soon after the event; _suits me – I don't wanna go there just now either_; and waiting for Vector to nod in agreement before continuing, "he's never been exactly social has he?"

"Good point", the crocodile nodded at his diminutive team mate's logic before seeking to pad it out a little more, "but that's not gonna hold water forever is it? I mean she – damn it, call her he when everyone's around – wants some time off; we can't tell the guardians that's just 'im being antisocial, it's 'is job after all just like it's ours". After forcing down the smile that seeing the crocodile wrestle with his tenses tried to pull up on his face, the bee delivered the solution, or to be more accurate, part of the solution that had hit him over most of last night, when he hadn't been able to sleep, and all of this morning; _now all I've got to do is hope Vector's good with it and we're a shoe-in_;

"Well", he began carefully, seeing from the corner of his eye Vector take more notice – right now anything like an idea must have been something for him to savour and cling to, "we could say he's come down with that thing I had; I mean he did look pretty rough last night. And…well, let me do the talking for the last bit okay?"

"What last bit?"

"The last bit I'll say when we get there – no I'm not elaborating", the bee held his hand up as though warding away the questions he could see the crocodile was simply begging to ask, "just trust me. Part of actually pulling this off relies on you looking at least a bit surprised, so just go with the illness line; take it from me that alone should buy us a couple of weeks notice". Vector snorted with laughter as the bee cringed, mere memories of his brief brush with the pox that was the 'flu enough to make him feel ill even now; after a bout of sickness that severe, even he couldn't treat it as a joke entirely yet,

"So it should, even if I still think you were fakin' those last few days – joke, joke", the venom in Charmy's suddenly blazing eyes had far eclipsed that which he held ready in his stinger and Vector raised his hand against it with a frantic appeal, "I know 'ow ill ya were, crikey I aught ta, I was doin' most o' the runnin' for ya". As he'd hoped, the reminder drained all the fight out of the bee and he stood where he was, Charmy once more rather than an angry avatar of retribution who's eyes could burn with a glance,

"Yeah, thanks for that", the bee said once more, as he had at least a hundred time to those who had helped him out over that stumbling block in his life; _odd that really_; he was struck by a sudden thought; _out of all of them it was probably Esp who helped out more than most – could that have been her maternal instinct kicking in_; luckily Vector never looked around as he was forced to clap a hand over his mouth, both to cover the smile and stifle the giggles such a thought generated – the words 'Espio' and 'maternal instinct' were as a general rule not compatible at the best of times. _Although…_;

It was the lack of conversation that made Vector glance around in the end; it wasn't like Charmy to be quiet for any length of time and, knowing his team mate as he did, the crocodile was pretty sure he knew the reason behind the bee's unusual silence. _Where'd he go?_; the fact the bee wasn't matching his stride made him uneasy for a minute; looking around, he almost gasped in relief when he saw the Charmy standing a few paces back, apparently lost in thought and staring into space. Crossing his eyes at the unusual spectacle Vector was about to get him moving again with a quick shout but, almost as though realising he was being watched the bee blinked and seemed to come back to himself, running to catch up and waving ahead, words spilling from his lips as he pulled up level with his reptilian friend,

"Vec, sorry about that, but I just had a sudden thought".

"Wondered where all that moanin' was comin' frum", as Charmy regarded him quizzically the crocodile broke into a crafty smile, delivering the punch of his line, "musta been your brain in labour". _Oh that's cheap, and nasty_; the insect grimaced in distaste before putting such an issue to the back of his mind and carrying on with his original topic of conversation,

"That aside, I was doing some thinking and, you know what, now we know what we know about Esp"; _as if I could forget_; and even in the short period of time he'd had since the event, there had already been times when Vector wished he was in the dark about the chameleon's secret – realising suddenly he wasn't hiding what his thoughts were scrawling across his face, he shook his head and motioned for Charmy to continue, "it just, strangest thing really, but a lot of things just, they now just make more sense now".

_Make sense?_; what was he on about this time? Unable to make head from tail at the bee's curious suggestion, Vector ended up scratching the area of his head he could reach around his earpiece speakers, shrugging his shoulders and, eventually, asking the dreaded question,

"What things are makin' 'ow much sense now – more'an you are I 'ope?"

"Some hope", Charmy quipped back before backing down at his older team mate's scowl of annoyance and lurching himself back on track, "but apart from the jokes think about it; there's a lot of stuff about him-stroke-her depending on the company we're in, and it all makes sense now, to me at least".

"Example?"

"The cough sweets", almost puppyish in his eagerness to get the point he was trying to make across Charmy spread his arms and made all the right noises, "think about it Vec; she's a girl right?"

"Right"; _that much at least I can agree with you on_; nodding that he'd made the first step, the bee elaborated with another carefully-phrased question,

"And, I hope it's the same for reptiles as everyone else, but girls don't tend to have deep voices do they?"

"Not usually no…o 'course", now the proverbial light bulb had pinged on over his head it was hard to remember what he'd been in the dark about; with a nod the crocodile understood, "tha's not her real voice is it; she's been shammin' us wi'that same way she had everythin' else".

"And speaking in a voice that isn't really yours hurts, take it from me; tried to be a ventriloquist once, long story short it didn't work", Charmy warded off lengthy explanations with a wave of his free hand as the fingers of the other pinched the skin around his throat in pain of the memory; _lost my voice for how long afterwards?_; "she's been chomping down on those sweets to stop it hurting, and maybe she did get a taste for them after time. God knows how though, they taste foul". As the bee's face became a mask of intense distaste Vector chuckled, shoulders shaking as he leant down,

"Really – bad as…" Charmy's finger suddenly shot up, aimed right between the reptiles' eyes as all the fun drained out of the bee's voice, his next words as sharp and severe as one of Espio's flung projectiles,

"You say hickory nut vinegar I will kill you; that stuff is in a league of its own when it comes to absolute, er, absolute…there just isn't a word for it. And that was just the smell", that was one memory of his illness Charmy remembered all too well; no matter how dishevelled and drained his body felt, he knew for a fact it was not going to let go of the ceiling and have a spoonful of the thick, black gunk glooping malevolently in the saucepan Mighty held forced down its neck, "if I'd have actually been dosed up…urgh, I'll have nightmares tonight about that stuff". The crocodile nodded in agreement; _yeah, that stuff did pong a bit I suppose_;

"Took us a while ta get the kitchen aired out again after she'd been makin' it, though she put her 'and in her pocket ta stump up a new saucepan, so can't complain too much I s'pose. But 'part from that, leavin' the HNV where we buried it…"

"And good riddance", Charmy murmured, forcing the closet door shut on that skeleton before giving Vector his full attention again; thus encouraged, the team leader of the Chaotix continued where he'd left off,

"…I guess yer're right; Esp's voice ain't broke 'cause it can't but she still tried to kid on it had to stop awkward questions – nice bitta spotting that Charm, couldn'ta done it when we were P.I's ta save yer life though could ya? Still, goin' on yer theory, mebbe tha's why Esp and Might clash so much; not only is she new 'ere, Mich's a threat to 'er position as top dog as far as women in the Chaotix go; speakin' o'which", more examples added their weight to his theory and he found himself talking faster as more details emerged, other pieces falling smoothly, as Charmy had indicated earlier, into places where before they had looked jumbled and illogical, "I don' think Esp's ever hit it off right wi'any other girl; look at Amy when we were drivin' out to the desert, an' Rouge after she and Knucks got hitched?"

"And not even Cream got away scot-free", Charmy finished – it was only on seeing Vector's look of sudden bewilderment that he suddenly realised; _yeah, you wouldn't have seen it, Esp was behind you wasn't she?_; "remember the meal we all had together, Lara and Wyn?"

"Oh yeah. What 'appened there wi'Esp an' floppy?"

"She got death-glared, good and proper", Charmy said solemnly, tone leaden with gravitas; truth be told he'd only caught the very tail-end of Espio's furious glare from the corner of his eye but even that had been enough to confirm to him that the rabbit girl had been on the receiving end of a venomous Look, "I wasn't sure why at first, after all she was talking to you, saying you looked nice in your suit".

"After you lot were done rippin' the pee outta me", Vector finished with a rumbling groan of annoyance, the memory now fresh in his mind again, "yeah, nice of 'er to stand up for me like that – wonder why Esp 'ad a problem with it?"

With that question hanging in the air the crocodile shrugged and marched on, already having a half-formed but very hare-brained idea why that might have been but not, at this particular moment in time, wanting to divulge it to Charmy in case he was proved wrong. What brought him screeching to a halt once more, however, was the sound of a strangled, stuttered reply, coming from behind but beside him,

"Well Vec" ; looking over his shoulder agog, Vector saw his insect friend twiddle his thumbs and scrutinise the concrete beneath his feet before finally plucking up the courage to finish his answer, "have you never, umm, thought that the reason – boy this is going to sound totally out there, but the reason, it might, err, just be you?"

XXX

_So it's not just me been seeing things then_; something that wasn't quite hope and wasn't quite anticipation flickered up in Vector's mind at the bee's words though, to his credit, he kept most of it off his face as he glanced down at Charmy again,

"What'ya mean, me?" In no way able to meet the crocodile's eye, Charmy ran the images he had through his mind one last time, then reviewed them just to be absolutely sure in his own mind before finally, after a last split-second of frantic rehearsal in his mind, he trusted himself to speak again, outlining his plans for Vector's attention,

"Well, haven't you noticed that Espio's always been a bit, sort of different when your about – I mean, how often's Mighty said you're the only one who can control her properly, and she's right", a little more pluck in his tone now, Charmy moved more into his stride and carried on, though he still couldn't quite bring himself to look Vector full in the face as he did so, "you're the one Esp actually responds to. In fact the only one because neither of the guardians has ever managed it; how many shouting matches have she and Knuckles bawled at each other now, and that's without counting her scraps with Rouge too. But you", he shook his head, antennae swaying in the bitter winter breeze, "you jump and she says how high, well, some of the time anyway. I always wondered why and now this…I think I might have reasons I didn't have before; I mean, have you seen anything to back me up here or, better question, you think I might be right in any way".

"I dunno Charm"; _about fifty-fifty then_; the bee breathed again only after a long, long pause in the conversation – evidently Vector was taking a long time to weigh things up in his mind before answering this one, "I can't say what you've said ain't got a bitta merit; I always thought I mighta seen 'er lingerin' wi'her eyes on me, jus' never long enough to getta good look mind. Y'know sometimes I thought he", the heavy emphasis the crocodile laid on the word made Charmy look up as much as his chuckle did, "mighta been battin' for the other team if ya know where I'm comin' frum; yer way sounds a lot betta frum my point o'view at least".

The bee goggled for a minute before suddenly, and completely without any conscious input from his brain, burst out laughing; only by half-gagging himself with both hands did he prevent making a complete spectacle of himself in the middle of the street; _Espio, gay?_ Mere visions of the chameleon in a Hawaiian t-shirt making a peace sign just set him off again, tears brimming at the corner of his eyes; _oh if only, one photograph would get you a lifetime's worth of favours from her – but it didn't turn out that way_; the timely reminder instantly sobered him up, the bee reminding himself what was actually going on now, that Espio and, to a lesser extent, he and Vector were now all in a whole new ball game; _she's got a lot on her plate right now and cracking lame jokes probably isn't going to help her out any. So…_;

"What do we do about it?" Just this once his mouth and mind moved at the same moment and he was all ears to catch Vectors' reply as the crocodile cocked his head from the unexpected question,

"We keep quiet 'bout it, an' anything else fer good measure, an' I mean it Charm", though technically the bee was now an adult Vector had an inbuilt gift of knowing when it was time to play things as a laugh and when to put his foot down and now was definitely one of the latter times, "she's gotta be the one ta do this so you, an' me fer that matter, tread careful – she says jump, you asking inta what mud, got it? We just gotta give 'er a bitta moral support, just 'til she's back on 'er feet again. Anyway, 'nough o'that", his eyes slipped down to his watch and with a jolt the pressing urgency of time had become apparent to him again, "le's get rollin' or they really will get suspicious".

"Okay", checking his own timepiece the bee took off after the crocodile, quite literally in his case as due to inequalities in leg length it was the only way he would ever be able to keep up with his reptilian counterpart whenever Vector was going much faster than a reasonable jog. _Luckily for me though_; easily keep pace now he was airborne Charmy felt himself smile again as one of his friend's perks came back to lighten his day; _despite Knuckles' most rigorous devotions running has never been a pastime of his and I doubt it ever will be. Though that was possibly the weakest excuse I've ever heard you throw_; the smile matured into a grin as once more the bee found himself having to pray to someone upstairs that his face would stay straight – it had been during their training period before the Chaotix had taken over responsibility for watching over the Master Emerald while the guardians were away on their extended honeymoon and Vector had, once again, come close to collapse under the strain of one of Knuckles' forced marches-cum-all-out sprints. The line the crocodile had spun about not liking running because it forced cold air up his nose had been such a cop-out that both his team mates had virtually ruptured lungs not to burst out laughing at its corniness; the fact that Knuckles seemed to swallow it hook, line and sinker only throwing oil on the fires of their mirth. _Just as well for you Knuckles isn't a huge biology fan_; as he flew and dodged street-lamps on autopilot, the bee directed a very firm glance at Vector's leathery back; _you know as well as I do that crocs can pinch their nostrils shut whenever they want to – they have to otherwise they'd drown every time they submerged. Hang on though, speaking of noses and yours in particular_; insect curiosity tweaked by the obscure reference, Charmy put on a burst of speed and, drawing level, called quietly from the corner of his mouth,

"Vec?" Focussing on running through the heavy, cold air, the crocodile didn't look across but answered back all the same,

"Yeah?"

"Was it true what you said earlier – about being able to smell girls…cycles"; the bee only elaborated when his first quote drew a nonplussed look from the crocodile and even without having to look Charmy knew he'd made a pigs-ear of explaining it. To his eternal relief however, after a brief and quizzical look his way, Vector answered in a low voice, mindful of the potential for others on the street to hear them, especially as Boxing day wasn't considered a bank holiday for the rest of Echidnopolis,

"It is an' I can; I wish I couldn't like but there it is", he sounded a little shamefaced about such an admission and Charmy reckoned he could guess why; it wasn't something that leant itself well to casual conversation, "wild crocs do as well, tha's why when ya see 'em on the telly rippin' inta wildebeest and whatever at the water'ole, it's usually the pregnant ones they catch 'cause they can smell 'em out betta".

"Didn't know that – I knew you could smell blood", Charmy offered up reassuringly in a bright tone, relieve plain on his face as he saw the corner of Vector's mouth he could see turn upwards in a smile,

"Yeah, not the same though; got a different hum to it. Why d'ya think I'm not 'round Mighty much at her time o' the month – got nuthin' 'gaint her personally, but the two days before an' two days after are murder on the ol' schnozzle".

_Now it makes sense_; with that new nugget of information something Charmy had never really understood before became evidently obvious. Truth be told he was quick to make himself scarce whenever the armadillo drew a little heart around one of the dates on the Chaotix's calendar just like Vector was, but in his case it was for the simple reason that Mighty's temper was a little shorter than usual for a couple of days and he knew better than anyone how much of a nuisance he could be to someone not in the mood to joke around. _I just assumed Vec was the same – it appears not, however_; overall though, in the grand scheme of things, it didn't really matter right at this moment in time. The thing that did matter was that he and the crocodile made it to the flat co-rented by Shadow and Julie-Su in order to see with the rest of them what this mysterious video tape was and, more importantly as far as he was concerned, they also had to make up a good and believable cover story to explain Espio's absence for both now and the next couple of weeks. As his wings kept him up to speed with his rushing team mate, Charmy bent his silvery tongue and prankster's soul to the task, trying to find the words the stricken chameleon needed to save her now more than ever before.

XXX

"Aha, we have the others", glancing up from where he was taking off his shoes Vector nodded at where Knuckles held aloft a brown paper package, "and now we have the dynamite; just to make sure though, you didn't send this?"

"No, what'd be the point, you can't play it", Charmy answered as he hung up his scarf, the frayed red strip of material dangling limply just above his boots as he stretched upwards, flexing his wings to avoid them cramping up when he was sat down. The guardian cocked his head, apparently weighing up the bee's argument and nodding as he realised it held water, moving to the side as he heard a voice behind him,

"All right guys; want anything to drink?"

"Sommat 'ot'd go down a treat mate; it's a bit nippy out there"; Shadow's head retracted back behind the kitchen door for a minute before suddenly reappearing, a slightly more curious look on its features now as he beheld the Chaotix duo now in his hallway,

"Hang about, where's Espio?"

"We'll tell you later", even before Vector could open his mouth the answer was called out from behind him, "it's not a pretty story I'll tell you that much for nothing".

"Oh, that good eh?" The black hedgehog's disembodied voice floated back to them as he busied himself with something behind the doorway, "go on through, I'll get the tray set up and then", he left a dramatic pause for effect before finishing, "the mystery will be solved".

"Good, it's been bugging me all morning probably as much as it has the guardians", Charmy called through to him, Vector on his heels as he followed Knuckles' lead towards the lounge where he could already hear both the guardians' other half and Julie-Su were already getting seating arrangement sorted – despite being of a decent size the apartment wasn't used to seating so many and thus a few alterations were having to be made to accommodate everyone.

"Hi guys, need a hand?" Flipping her hair out of her eyes with a free hand Julie glanced over her shoulder at Charmy, shaking her head as she did so,

"Nah, think we've got it sorted now Rouge?"

"Yep, this aught to do it – you don't mind playing rug-rat do you Charm?" At the bats' glanced the bee held up a hand and laughed,

"Always prefer it, don't like running the risk of pulling a wing or two if I'm sat on anything; you can get away with it though you lucky hound". Rouge put a hand on her hip, turning to face Chary directly with one of her immaculate eyebrows raised in his direction; _lucky is it – you don't know the meaning of the word._

"Doesn't stop me getting jealous sometimes, at least you can wear things like a jumper or a shirt without looking like you're about to turn into the Incredible Hulk and rip it clean off…" _Gotcha!_;

"Let me guess, when you're concerned ripping your shirt off is Knuckles' job"; _damn it, every bloody time_; once more Rouge had to concede defeat, just avoiding a potentially fatal blush as she glared venomously at the victoriously posing insect; _I don't know how you do it or even if you plan to, but every bloody time you get in a dirty joke at my expense_.

"Don't worry", a voice in her ear, so low that no-one else was going to be able to hear it; _though I doubt they'd hear you anyway – must be hard trying to listen when you've got hands over your mouth trying to stop giggling_; informed her nothing good was coming out of this, "if nothing else I'm good with a needle and thread". That comment finally sent hot pulses over the skin of her face – as everyone else sniggered at the bee's quip Rouge twisted over her shoulder until she could just about see her husband in her peripheral vision, scowling majestically as she did so,

"You want another night at the Shrine Knuxie? Trust me you're about that far away from spending a month out there". Immediately the guardian's face collapsed into horrified shock and innocent appeasement, the combination of such an expression with his finely toned and honed body making the bat splutter a little with laughter herself, even more so as he felt his arms hook around her waist, his breath on her shoulder making her shiver,

"Rouge, you wouldn't?"

"Don't tempt me", the bat growled back even if, hand on heart, she couldn't kick her husband out any more than he could throw the Master Emerald into the sea, "anyway, once this lot have _finally_ settled down", most of the assembled Mobians managed to choke off their mirth at the bat's raised voice, even if the sight of Knuckles hugging her from behind raised a few eyebrows, "we can get started. Or, we could, if you'd let go". Having tried to stride forwards only to be stopped by the echidna's restricting grip around her middle Rouge shot her head around to glare at him once more; he merely smiled into the teeth of her Look, his fortitude backed up by Shadow's comment as the ebon hedgehog set the tray he'd been carrying down on the small table his lounge had come equipped with,

"Don't do it Knucks for all our sakes"; _oh cut me some slack_; Rouge decided that this was destined not to be her day when she saw the gleam in Shadow's eye – it reminded her quite chillingly of Sonic's teasing expression the last time she'd been in Station Square, just before the former ultimate life-form's cerulean counterpart had begun tickling and torturing her ears, forcing her into helpless surrender that only the timely arrival of everyone else, including Julie-Su for the first time, had been able to rescue her from, "I've seen what happens when she lets out her inner demon; it's not a pretty sight – hold on or we're all doomed".

"Just let her go", finally the beleaguered bat had some back up as Julie stood up from where she'd been rearranging the settee so it faced the television more squarely, "take it from me whatever inner demon she might have buried it's an absolute pussy cat compared to mine, and unless I get to see this movie soon I might be tempted to let him out for a bit of exercise…"

"Point taken", Knuckles dropped his arms and quickly blocked the soft back kick Rouge sent lancing in his direction; _go for the knees – nah, enough joking around now, we need to see what's on this tape_; it was a valid argument, all the more pointed for him since he'd done little but think of what that tape might have contained since he'd found it on his doorstep the previous night. Therefore, instead of chastising his wife for her low blow the guardian merely retreated to the settee, joined by Shadow a second later as Vector stretched out in the room's single armchair, Charmy laid out on the floor in front of him. With a click and faint mechanical whine, Rouge pushed the tape into the maw of the video player just as Julie snagged the pair of remotes that controlled the both the video player and the TV; as she sat down next to the settee near Knuckle's arm, she looked around the room on last time,

"Everyone ready?" There was a low chorus of affirmation from everyone, apprehension thick on the air as she thumbed the play button,

"Right then, lights, camera and…", she hit the play button with her thumb, "action!"

For a second nothing happened, just a wave of static from the screen in front of her; the mechanised echidna was about to hit the fast-forward button when suddenly the static broke to give a picture, slightly fuzzy at first but quickly increasing in sharpness as Julie goggled at the screen before her. _I know that face!_; and she did, there was no two ways about it; _but why, how'd you…and what are you wearing?!_

"Shadow", immediately she hit the pause button and sprang to her feet, her flatmate looking up at her in alarm as everyone else seemed paralysed by shock, "what are you playing at this time?" His mouth worked but nothing came out of it; she was about to pounce over the settee and start beating the answers out of him when a sudden laugh stopped her murderous thoughts; dreadlocks swaying, Knuckles shook his head as he glanced up sideways at her,

"Cool it Jules, that's not Shadow", looking into the face of his seventh-father, the current guardian wondered how best to word his explanations this time around, "it's just someone who looks like him".

XXX

The former Legionnaire froze where she was, not quite able to take in what the other echidna had said; she looked back at the screen, trying to see if what he was saying was true but no answers were immediately forthcoming – the face on the screen, even taking into account the lines of static that rolled through it to blur and twist some features, was an absolute look-alike when she compared it to her hedgehog flatmates.

"What? It's gotta be him", she speared Shadow with her finger, the hedgehog simply shaking his head mutely in denial as she spoke again, "they're identical".

"No they're not, you'd see it if Spectre had his helmet off", Rouge added, trying to work out why one of her more favoured of the Brotherhood of Guardians was doing what he was doing – if nothing else everything she'd ever seen from Spectre so far, little as it might have been, made her suspect he didn't trust new technology very much; _understandable given the fact that when he was growing up and guarding the M.E the rest of the world was still in the Industrial Age_; "just take it from me that's not Shadow – even given the amount of time he's spent in the freezer there's no way B.B's got a patch on Spectre in terms of age". _You are so going to come a cropper_

_when I get my shot in batgirl_; as the ebon hedgehog plotted revenge for the name he hated, his former Legionnaire flatmate blinked hard, trying to work out what the pair of guardians were saying, pointing at the screen as she did so,

"So, so who is that then? Did you say his name was Spectre?"

"Yeah it is", Knuckles heaved down a sigh, seriously wondering what it must have be like to have a normal family for once, "guess you'd better know now, since I've got a suspicion you'll be introduced over the next few minutes or so; guardians live a long time, okay? You know that already", vaguely remembering Rouge mentioning the fact at some stage or other, Julie nodded at the same time as try to work out where Knuckles was going with this one, and how it concerned the fake Shadow she could see on the screen, "so, on my dad's side of the family at least, I've got a lot of relatives, a _lot _of relatives, and he's the eldest of them. His name's Spectre, he's the head of the Brotherhood of Guardians, my predecessors at guarding the Master Emerald and some-time back up in the duty, and he's my seventh-father just to put the cherry on top of his other titles".

"Seventh-father", the term was alien to Julie and thus she sought some clarification, "that's is…what exactly?"

"Simple really; he's my father seven generations removed – just cuts out all the greats", Knuckles shrugged, not looking to the side of him as he didn't have to; like everyone else who'd ever been exposed to the knowledge of the Brotherhood's existence, himself and Rouge included, it always came as quite a shock, "just as well really, it'd be five of them for him otherwise".

"Five greats?" Julie's voice was almost a shrieked gasp; once more her eyes shot to the screen and then scrunched shut, unable to take it in at first, "how old is he exactly?"

"Not sure, he's a bit touchy on the subject", Rouge said with a chuckle, already daring to think she might be seeing the former Legionnaire beginning to understand and accept what she was being told, "at a rough guess we'd probably say late hundred-and-seventies, though he doesn't look a day over a century I'm first to admit".

"Hundred and seventy?" Julie's voice was faint as she gripped onto the arm rest of the settee, needing support from somewhere as the shock had taken it out of her like a punch to the guts, "but that's, just – you live a long time but, but how do we never see them? At least seven fathers and mothers, someone would have to see them…"

"No they wouldn't, the Brotherhood; that's what they call themselves, the Brotherhood of Guardians", Knuckles explained patiently, hoping he could make another point here even if being forced to make it as he was would be sore for him, "basically they've all passed their duties and the Master Emerald down to their son-slash-daughter, so they're in effect retired. And, lucky me, when the time comes for me to pass down the mantle of guardian I get to go and join them at Haven; that's why you never see them about. They all live in what's basically an underground bunker complex called Haven, don't know why they named it that, they just did – keeps them off the scanners of the Legion and away from prying eyes, after all there's only supposed to be one guardian a generation. And one other thing Jules; there's no others with them, the guardians live at Haven alone", Rouge's hand surreptitiously found his own at this point as, out of all the assembled friends, the bat alone knew how painful the knowledge he was burdened with was for Knuckles, the fact he would have to watch helplessly as she aged until death came for her the bitterest of pills for him to swallow. His darker tone made Julie looked down again into his mournful eyes, a chill creeping over her as he spoke again, the warmth and strength normal saturating his voice leeched away,

"The guardians live a long time, but no-one else does, not even", he caught his breath, not daring to look to the side of him as he knew that if he did he'd be unable to keep tears from his eyes and no-one, least of all Julie who simply hadn't known of this up to now, deserved that, "not even our partners. Spectre and all the others, their wives have, have passed away, all except my mother, who divorced Locke and married someone else, and good for her I say".

"Oh hell in a hand cart", Julie let her head fall into her palm as she realised how murky the waters she'd just thrust a stick into were, "I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have…"

"Oi, no", the echidna suddenly jumped as something caught hold of her free hand; as both her gaze and her feet fell to the floor again, she saw Rouge's smaller, thinner hand clasped around her own, the bat's brilliant blue eyes locking onto hers and refusing to disengage them, "do not apologise, it's just something that's going to happen no matter what. You didn't know so beat yourself up about it – besides", the bat gave a small but still mischievous smile, glancing across that the echidna in who's lap she was currently sprawled, prostrate across her husband as she'd leapt for Julie's hand, "he thinks he's got problems now just wait until I'm gone and he's underground with the others – grandfather Thunderhawk's going to have a field day". _Thunderhawk?_; the name wasn't completely lost on Julie but where she'd heard it before she didn't know; _I've just heard it somewhere – was it something to do with you, or you maybe?_; she flicked a glance towards where her flatmate was in his own little world, respecting the guardians talking about matters that were private to them and therefore not to be butted in on.

"Where have I heard that name before – Shadow", the hedgehog turned to face her, eyebrows raised at the mention of his name, "why do I remember Thunderhawk, was it something you said?" _Rouge you just had to open your mouth didn't you?_; once more cursing the gods of irony as he foresaw another of his most hated memories coming back to haunt him, the hedgehog was caught in a corner with no room to squirm free of this latest lesson in humiliation,

"No", he grated back, jerking his head sideways at Knuckles as he did so, "it was something he opened his big mouth and said – remember that picture…"; _thought you might have_; his thoughts were acid as Julie suddenly doubled over laughing, the picture the black hedgehog had mentioned once more shining free in her memories again, a rare jewel unearthed and given the chance to sparkle again,

"Oh that picture", she drawled leisurely, the gentle malice in her voice virtually tangible, "now that you mention it yeah I think I can picture it again. Wait, Thunderhawk's in that, the purple guy", this time she did laugh outright, helpless in mirth as both Knuckles and Shadow were forced to sit through it, the guardian in fact having to speak again as she finally reined in her laughter and pointed him out with a shaking finger, "you, you got drunk under the table by a grandpa – oh that's bad that is".

"It gets worse", if looks could have killed Charmy would have gone home in an urn; however, the bee being what he was he was able to bounce off the two death glares that were sent his way as he indicated the screen to the giggling echidna, "see Spectre, well Thunderhawk's his son, Knuckles' sixth-father; any idea how old he might be?"

At that point there was no hope; the awkwardness of moments ago was lost forever as Julie was forced to sit down heaving with laughter and slapping at the carpet weakly, a couple of others present joining in her laughter to a more refined degree as the two Mobians who were taking this colossal hit to their pride simply remained stony-faced throughout. How long passed no-one knew until, with a final great lungful of air, Julie sat up again and lunged for the remote, looking up at the tuft of red dreadlocks she could see to the side of her and smirking as Knuckles glared toxically,

"Sounds like a ton of fun this Brotherhood-thing you've got going, and since I can't get membership", she thumbed the play button again, noticing as she did so that yes, the others had been quite right – it definitely wasn't Shadow on the screen as he didn't have enough hair on his whole body to plait the single dreadlock she could see laid over the midnight robes that cloaked the body of the current guardians' seventh-father, "this looks like the next best thing".

As the red eyes on the screen in front of her blinked and looked what she assumed was the camera he'd used to film this for a minute, Julie like the rest of the audience fell silent, waiting for the black-furred guardians' first words to come echoing through the screen, not quite registering that out of the entire recent conversation the Chaotix had been virtually silent, and also like the rest of the audience, completely in the dark that, somewhere on the other side of town, another silent play was just about to begin in tandem with their own.

XXX

The cold bit at her, a chill wind whistling in from the open window in the bedroom and she welcomed it; even as he mind drifted within itself the discomfort gave her something to focus on, test herself against and overcome. _Life is a struggle, there is no rest, no pause and no hope of victory_; as she rested on the floor of the room she'd recently ejected Charmy's things from, Espio listened to herself again and strove to relive what had happened the previous night in all its shameful cravenness;_there is only lasting as long as is possible. Only the strongest can hope to survive and I am not strong enough yet – nights such as that one have proven this as a truth. I have been distracted too much, strayed from the path I should have stayed true to_; and that was true, she had to accept that and only then could she hope to improve things about her circumstances for the better. Determined not to shiver the chameleon sat in the coldness of her new room, staring at the wall opposite her to use it as a focus for her mediation, allowing everything else to fade from her mind as she struggled to find away back towards where she wanted, no, more than that, where she needed to be; _there is no excuse for failure such as last night – years of training, meditation and readying myself and I still failed! That must not happen again regardless of the circumstances – I must put aside all these distractions, all of them, and return to studying and mastering that which is the only important thing in this life_; it would be difficult but she could do it, she had done so before and could do so again. As she sat in isolation Espio was content, she knew she was; even as images of the others came into her mind she crushed them out one by one because they were unimportant, they were not things she could rely on. The only thing she could rely on was herself; _and to be able to do that completely_; with renewed determination she threw herself into the struggle, fighting for utter dominance of herself in order to come through even stronger as she finished the thoughts; _I must be flawless, no matter the cost to anyone else_.

A/N: But to what lengths will Espio go to attain such perfection, and what's on the tape Spectre's given the gang? Answers (or at least some of the answers) next chapter.


	3. Chapter 3 Revenge and Resolution

Chapter 3 – Revenge and Resolution.

A/N: Well, plenty of people to speak to this time around, including some new faces and a couple of returning old hands:

BC: Glad to have you back, and don't worry - better than most I know the breakeck pace of life these days! Thanks for the coomment about my descriptive prowess imrpoving, nice to know I'm still getting better at what I do. Glad the bathroom scene went down well - for some reason I couldn't get the thoughts of the movie Psycho out of my head while I was writing it...

Artemis (ART from now on): Excellent, someone who's read all the way through - good, shows my fics can keep the attention well. Still, you should know better than to threaten an author...Athair, down! You've had the telephone directory already, don't make me break out the encyclopedia this time!

Rowan: I love the way I managed to blindside everyone with this revelation; I also agree with you, Espio/Vector would be a good paring. Hmm...

Tenshi No Harakiri (TNH, for obvious reasons): Yes, Espio fics are hard to find on this site - thought I'd do something to redress the balance a little. Glad you enjoy it.

Ri2 - Espio is scary I will admit, but surely a ninja's code won't let her kill her firends. Or will it, and, after all, can a ninja truly have friends, or was that just an act on her part too...?

As yet another ripple of laughter spread throughout the room and he felt an impact on his shoulder, no doubt where Rouge's head was now buried as the bat nearly sobbed under the effect of hysteria this strong, Knuckles couldn't bring himself to look; despite one paw covering his eyes, the echidna still had a small grin on his lips as he silently wished every hex and plague known to both science and the supernatural onto his myriad generations of grandparents,

"Why?" His paw covered his eyes rose only slightly, just in time to see the result of the latest prank and pratfall coincide with all his other friends bursting out giggling again, the screen in front of them crackling with the antics of Mobians who really should have been old enough to know better,

"Why", he said again, his voice hoarse as his wife finally managed to sit up straight again, eyes streaming and breath coming in laboured fits and starts, "does everyone in my family love showing me up like this?"

"'Cause it's funnehehehe", Shadow was sprawled on his end of the settee, voice froggy with the effort of trying to speak after laughing as hard as he had been, "oh, stop the tape, stop the tape someone". He couldn't take any more of this; the last example of a family almost at war with itself had been enough to push him to the limit, any more and he was certain he'd end up fainting from lack of oxygen to the brain.

"I, I got it", at the fourth time of asking Julie's fingers just about managed to make it to the pause button and stop quivering enough for her to press down on it properly; as the former Legionnaire looked up through teary vision she had to suddenly choke off her mirth once more as the sight of one of the assembled characters on the screen in front of her in a position that would have been defined by science as physically impossible at worst or, at best, exceedingly uncomfortable to attain and hold. With a last wheeze Julie sat up again, stomach muscles groaning as she did so, one of her gloved hands rising to wipe away the lingering moisture at the corner of her eyes; having eventually managed this tiny goal, she immediately set about gathering up some more information about what she was seeing, information that seemed to have been scrambled around in her head with all the laughing she'd been doing,

"Awwahh", a last few sniggers made it out of her mouth before she finally managed to bring herself to look across at the youngest member of the Brotherhood of Guardians, Knuckles with one paw still over his eyes and Rouge slumped helplessly against him again, looking for all the world like she was in the middle of a complete mental breakdown, "so, so just remind mehehe, sorry", as the current guardian's head turned towards her and his paw rose, allowing her to see a very stern lilac eye regarding her severely from the darkness its shadow cast over his face she tried, and failed, to sober up before asking her question, "who's that one again?" Knuckles didn't even have to look,

"That one"; _as if I didn't know?_; he was sure his internal river of vitriol had run bone-dry for once but somehow he still managed to dredge up a last bucketful of curses for his least-loved, if most entertaining, grandfather, "is called Athair, otherwise known as the nutter, the head-case or, just occasionally, my great-or-third-father – as far as I'm concerned though", his gaze hardened as he lashed it across the screen again, almost wishing his bizarre great-grandfather was in the room with him now; _then at least I'd have the pleasure of throttling him to death myself_; "after this I'm divorcing my ancestors at the very first opportunity".

"Now Knucks, don't be rash", the echidna's answering glare would have melted a bank vault to slag but, as always, Rouge was able to deftly avoid the worst of it with a smile and a verbal swagger, "you can't do that and you know it; blood is thicker than water after all".

"And the next time I get to Haven I'll be testing that theory out, you can rely on that one", the youngest member of the Brotherhood growled, rubbed the spurs of one set of knuckles with one hand with the free fingers of his other hand, scowling at the antics of his various generations of grandfathers viciously, "all those damned lectures they rammed down my throat and chewed my ears off with, then this – how do they get to sleep at night?"

"Well going on a couple of those magazines covers we saw lying about…"

"Enough", Knuckles cut his wife off even if, in the very silent minority of his mind that wasn't currently screaming for blood and vengeance, he knew full well that the next time he had his one of his seemingly whiter-than-white grandfathers away from the rest of the Brotherhood this tape had provided him with an absolute plethora of bribery material that Sabre most of all would have found squirmingly unbearable, "I say here and now that I had no idea of the rest of the Brotherhood's varied reading topics and for that I'm very grateful", despite himself a very small, even slightly sheepish smile crossed his lips as he pointed at the screen, "maybe age toughens you up in some respects I don't know, but going on the titles alone reading those mags would have probably given me a stroke, never mind any of them at the ages they are".

Once more the living room of the small, one-bedroomed Echidnopolis flat rang with laughter, even more so as it had bee Knuckles to make a joke and he, out of all of them, was by far and away the most serious despite having loosened up a lot in the time he'd been together with Rouge. As she battled down the worst of the giggle threat the other echidna's quip had whipped up in her, Julie once more looked at the screen and the second of the two questions she'd been meaning to ask sprang to the forefront of her mind,

"So, you know this Athair guy?"

"To my eternal shame, yes". _You love him really_; despite not having known the guardian as long as most of his other friends Julie was almost sure Knuckles hadn't really meant that last quote and was simply irked at the manner in which this belated present had been unwittingly unwrapped; _and thus everyone got an eyeful of your family behaving badly. Don't take it to heart pal – some of the stories I could tell you…_; a couple of choice reminders from the downtime of her former squad within the Dark Legion itself loomed up before her eyes and, despite the harsh parting she'd endured breaking away from her former home, the images forced her to have to stifle another giggle from breaking out from behind her lips; _and look on the bright side – at least as far as your lot are concerned, no nudity_. Realising she was in danger of getting lost in her own past to the detriment of her immediate question Julie quickly shoved the comforting pictures away in her box of treasured memories and quickly picked up where she'd left off,

"Well, probably going to sound an idiot for asking but, can he really", she pointed at the stilled vision of the screen in front of her, the point of her illuminating digit highlighting where the surprisingly-sprightly looking echidna with the rainbow bangles in his hair were tossed to and fro by the mid-air cartwheel he was engaged in, blowing a raspberry behind the back of another echidna Julie recognised as the lavender-furred Thunderhawk, "you know…fly like that?"

As she'd expected, there were a couple of seconds' silence to answer her at first; though at first she thought this might have been because Knuckles was weighing up how much he could safely get away with telling her, when he looked across at Rouge and instead motioned for her to speak, she realised it was because he didn't quite know how to say what he wanted to get across to her. The idea that he, and Rouge for that matter as by the tie of their marriage the bat was now as much a guardian as he was, were being completely open with her was a fact the former Legionnaire, used to being told exactly what her superiors felt she aught to know and absolutely no more, found both completely novel and, she noted privately, more than a little touching. Watching her friend, Julie leant forwards as Rouge started her explanation, occasionally looking back at her husband for clarification at one or other point as Shadow, for his part, remained sat quietly where he was in the background, recognising this was something he couldn't offer much of an opinion on,

"Well, first off to answer you yes, Athair can fly like you, all of us for that matter, have been seeing; that's because of what the guardians call the unique power he has".

"Unique power?" Obviously a little mystified by this, Julie simply parroted the phrase before falling quiet again, allowing her friend to carry on,

"Yes – it's a bit complicated at first but in the end you kind of get used to the way the system works. Put it like this", sitting forwards slightly Rouge rested her hand on her chin, Knuckles breathing in to allow the women to see each other a little more face to face, "each guardian, when they grow up, they start to change a little, at least, more than everyone else on Angel Island does – we don't know exactly why, maybe because of the Master Emerald or because the accident with the Chaos Siphon changed their great-ancestor somehow, but regardless of the reason the guardians start to develop powers when they first hit, um…Knuckles, how old were you when you started gliding?"

"Not sure exactly, reckon abut fourteen, fifteen maybe", the guardian mused, thinking more himself as Rouge took slightly more of a back seat, realising Knuckles was better placed to handle the ins-and-outs of the whole procedure now she'd laid some of the more basic groundwork for him to start with, "point is Jules, when we start maturing, we start to change more than everyone else does, just like Rouge said. I, well how often have you seen me gliding, which, I might add, is a bloody useful skill to have every time Mighty's taken umbrage to something I've said and thrown me halfway to heaven and back", recalling a couple of mock-sparring sessions she'd been able to take part in with the guardians and the Chaotix Julie smiled; _and she did on occasion didn't she? Just as well you can defy gravity a bit then isn't it, though must be a bit of a swine on a windy day_. Visions of Knuckles white-faced and swearing as he tried to steer his way back to solid ground while being swept up in gusts and blows of wind chasing each other amusingly through her head, Julie still had enough concentration left unengaged by such delicious mental plotting to see where this conversation was leading,

"I thought that was a bit odd first time I saw it; echidnas might be many things but great fliers usually isn't one of them", she was almost certain she saw Shadow's lips move at this point but, unable to hear what he might have muttered under his breath, Julie waded further into the conversation heedlessly, "although I take it another one of these skill-things you have is that green energy-thingy you do sometimes?" Knuckles knitted his brows a second before cottoning onto what she was referring to,

"Oh, the Thunder Arrow"; he nodded in agreement to her assumption and once more blessed his luck that the former Legionnaire was as sharp with her wits as Shadow claimed she was quick with her fists, "yeah that's another one, but what you have to understand Jules is that these powers, or gifts the others usually call them, are not unique to each of us. Any of us, the Brotherhood that is, can call on them when we need to; admittedly it's easier for some of us to use some of these gifts than others – I can use the Thunder Arrow and go gliding more easily than Spectre for instance, but at the same time when it comes to finding his way around Haven and anywhere else he beats me hands down. We're all a bit different, but on the whole we've all got access to the same armoury if you like". Julie smiled, a mischievous glint in her eye,

"Now that's a language I can understand", the former Legionnaire said smirking before her expression adopted a more thoughtful pose, her next words measured carefully, "though, going on that principle, I don't think I'm far wrong in assuming that from the way you've been saying it up to now you might have the keys to the same basic rifles, but you've all got a pretty unique tact-nuke or two".

There was a split-second's silence, mute applause for her phrasing the quandary in such an eloquent manner; before se could get too pleased with herself however, one voice rose up to stifle her ability to congratulate herself too much,

"Typical of you that is; never takes anything on board unless it's about punching someone's teeth in"; the former Legionnaire bristled at her flatmate's blunt assessment on her life even if, she had to admit grudgingly, he did have something like a point; _but I'm a soldier – I was raised a soldier, trained as a soldier and lived like a soldier, what does anyone expect?_

"You bet it is Shads", she growled back, clenching her fists in readiness, "guess who's next in line to find out the nutritional value of their own teeth?"

"Promises, promises"; _ooh, I hate you_; he was a thorn under her skin, an itch right in the middle of her back that she just couldn't rub out and she loathed him for it – up until fate had conspired to cross her path with that of the black hedgehog there had been no-one, not even Dusty, her most hated, semi-albino squad-mate within the Dark Legion itself, that had been able to rile her up the wrong way like he could. The fact that, nine times out of ten, he just had the edge over her in terms of quick-wittedness and speed of comeback was an extra spur of aggravation to her, though the knowledge that when she won an argument she more often than not won it far more convincingly than he did was a cooling balm over that irksome sore. They were evenly matched, each as impassive and as stubborn as the other as crimson eyes met and locked with iridescent ones; caught in the stare-down and neither willing to give an inch, the rest of the room faded out for the two flatmates – there was only the other, and only the struggle between them, that existed in the world. Or at least there was, right up until the point Rouge whipped out one of her wings; abruptly the contact was sheared and, suddenly back in tune with the rest of reality, Julie was able to hear the notes her recent outbreak of discord had made resonate among the guardians,

"Well there's an answer to that", suddenly realising no-one was paying him the blindest bit of notice, Knuckles narrowed his eyes and raised his voice, "assuming you two children are ready to stop squabbling and listen that is; both of you sit still and shut up! Right, well aside from the common powers, the guardians…what?" Suddenly aware of being the centre of attention as everyone in the room rounded on both his words and the matriarchal tone he'd delivered them in, Knuckles faced his silent accusers the best way he knew how; head-on and hell for leather. To his surprise however, it was the quietest in the room who actually answered him; shaking his head until his head spikes chafed together softly, Shadow faced his echidna friend disbelievingly,

"Where'd that come from Knucks? Never knew you had a feminine side". _Eh? Oh_; remembering the visions of his now-pregnant mother that had loomed very large in his mind's eye as he'd chastised his unruly friends, the echidna recognised why his outburst had been so unexpected,

"Sorry, bit of mum rubbing off on me there", he chuckled, seeing the suspension of belief drop from the eyes of his friends as he explained, "it's the way she sorts out Wyn and Tails when they start mucking about, me and the misses too for that matter – you're never too old for a clip around the ears she always says", he reached up and rubbed the side of his head, sympathetic pain beginning to throb from behind one of his aforementioned organs, "she was right as well".

"And when you've got ears this size it's no laughing matter", Rouge chipped in, both her large appendages lowered as though in deference to the mere memory of her mother-in-law; luckily both her ears and the rest of her expression perked up as she was able to finish off what her husband had started to say, "but apart from that, Knuckles was about to say that apart from the common gifts each guardian had one power that only they can use; this is the unique power and it's usually more powerful than the others. As you can probably tell", she gestured to the screen once more just before it went blank to conserve electricity, a small smile on her lips as she fondly recalled the antics of her madcap great-grandfather-in-law, "Athair's unique gift is the fact he can fly, despite the fact he's always telling people he's not actually a grandfather, I mean guardian – he's always telling people he's not a guardian".

"Hang on"; _but he's got the crest, not to mention a unique gift if what Rouge is saying is true_; "how's that supposed to work?" Shadow heaved a sigh,

"Same way everything works with Athair; he's completely stark staring mad".

"Shadow, that's not…"

"It is", Knuckles interdicted, cutting off Julie's condemnation of the hedgehog's lack of manners, "it's completely true, he is utterly insane. Don't ask me how or why, none of the others know and if Spectre out of all of them can't figure it out there probably is no rational explanation; we just have to accept it and, try", he spoke the last words through gritted teeth, "to love him as he is".

"Sounds like hard work", Julie commented dryly, hand over her mouth as though stifling a yawn though in reality she was trying to conceal the fact that she was trying her hardest not to break out in a massive grin; she'd never before seen Knuckles so ruffled by something that didn't involve either his wife or his mother. And he didn't make her task of looking neutral any easier when he turned to face her directly with a hang-dog look, tone so sardonic it could have turned bread stale,

"You have no idea, unlike"; _huh, what're you worried about me for – oh you're not. Hey, I thought it was quiet in here_; concerned by the way Knuckles had suddenly broken out from his long-suffering look into something more inquisitive, Julie had been wondering what she'd done before she realised the guardian was, in fact, actually now looking slightly past her, voice rising a little as he hailed the two Mobians who so far hadn't uttered a peep in the conversation, "the pair of you over there. What's up, not like either of you to keep stumm when there's a laugh in the offering, especially when you're laughing at me".

XXX

_Uh oh_; the crocodile realised their cover was blown and was still drawing blanks; _excuses time_; he needed to come up with a rational explanation as to why both he and Charmy, normally the life and soul of any party, were acting like they were attending a funeral. The weight of expectation bore down on him, increasing exponentially at breakneck speed as beyond Knuckles first one, then another and finally all three of the rest of the quartet turned their gazes his way – though normally he was cool enough to discount their mild curiosity, with the secret he was trying to contain weighing him down like a lead balloon in his guts all four gazes seemed as powerful as diamond-edged cutting drills, probing forwards and piercing down to unearth the vital information he had stored. For a lunatic second he was tempted to break open the forbidden vault himself, expunge the ghastly secret from its tomb in his memory banks in all its gory glory for all his friends to see; he almost bit his tongue to drown the urge out in pain before, with a jolt, he recognised someone was speaking, in fact answering, and that someone wasn't him. With tremendous concentration he reeled his mind back in, locking the phantom Espio shivering in the bathroom away again and instead listened to what Charmy was saying – he was in luck, the bee had only just started his explanations,

"…about that; I know we haven't been here much; now I'm tempted to say that's because of the fact we're both utterly shell-shocked by what we're seeing here, I mean every time we're at Haven they're all pride and angel pie on the outside – who knew this was what happened when the prying eyes were away? But I'd be lying if I'd said that was the only reason"; _nicely said – just enough of an abashed tone to carry it off and make it believable_; without consciously realising it the crocodile found himself complimenting his younger cohort for his act of duplicity, even if in this case lying to friends really was the kindest option open to the both, "truth be told, pointless denying it, we're a bit worried about the one who isn't here today, and no", he folded his arms on the floor, face betraying nothing of the struggle that must have been raging in his mind the same way it was raging in Vectors, "I don't mean Mighty before any of you try to get smart with me".

"Esp had a rough time did he?" Rouge nodded, all at once not altogether surprised and not altogether sympathetic to whatever plight the wall-crawler might have landed himself in – the fact that the pair of them had never gotten on at all was the worst-kept secret in the Chaotix, "Didn't think he looked well last night – what happened?" _What I could tell you…_; Vector didn't, of course – he'd sworn what happened that night would remain a secret until Espio herself decreed otherwise and he'd never broke a promise, or at least a serious promise, yet in his life,

"Not a'undred percent sure ourselv's batgirl, put it like this though – dunno which end were pointin' down the lav bu' whichever it were it didn't sound good". The bat grimaced at the inflection, as did everyone else – hoping against hope they'd leave it there Vector crossed every finger and toe, only to be denied this wish by a cruel whim of fate as, recovering from his disgust-induced shudder, the actual tenant of the flat everyone was currently crashed out in called back in dumbstruck horror,

"Too much info Vec, too much info. Any idea what it is though – I mean he looked ill yesterday but I didn't, in fact I don't think anyone thought it was really serious". Gravely, Charmy shook his head; maybe what he was saying wasn't strictly the truth but there could be no denying that yes, what had happened last night had been, and continued to be as far as he was concerned, a very serious matter indeed,

"It's serious all right; trust me Esp wouldn't be in bed now if it wasn't – short of something even hickory nut vinegar wouldn't cure he never lets anything slow him. But, just his luck", the bee shrugged, an apologetic sort of smile on his face, "I reckon whatever it was that knocked the stuffing out of me's just jumped ship straight onto him, and at the worst possible time as well".

The sight of every other Mobian in the room with the exception of his team mate, Vector being as deeply mired in the deception he was weaving as the bee was himself, wincing in sympathy of the chameleon's supposed plight was a sight all at once welcomed and dreaded by Charmy for at the same time it showed him that they'd all swallowed his yarn hook, line and sinker and that he was responsible for pulling the wool over their eyes as much as Espio ever had in the past. Wedged firmly between a rock and a hard place the insect could do little more than take the remarkably rough smoothest path available to him and damn how much it hurt to lie to his friends like this.

"Urgh, just what we needed; keep him away from the rest of us you pair", Knuckles said sternly, thoughts of his mother again foremost in his mind as the eyed up the two members of the Chaotix that were present and correct, "last thing I need right now to fall ill and maybe pass it onto mum or my new brother right after he pops out his egg; she's at a delicate stage right now".

"Not the way she was telling it", Julie chipped in, the former Dark Legionnaire shrugging casually as she remembered the last time she'd been roped in to helping with some DIY project Wynmacher had cooked up and Lara, being nearly seven months pregnant by now, had been hors de combat for, "last time we got together she said she was looking forwards to being able to stand up straight for the first time in months, and her pouch was beginning to form as well".

"Pouch?" Vector looked over bemused and Julie raised an eyebrow,

"Well yeah, how else is she supposed to hold the baby?"

"Umm", the crocodile scratched the back of his head, grateful for the diversion away from the prickly topic of another girl in his life making a mess of things, "is that a trick question or can I phone a mate?"

"No you can't; if nothing else I bet Esp won't appreciate being woken up in the state he's in, and Mighty probably wouldn't look too kindly on you sticking your oar into her family affairs just because you've not genned up on echidna biology. Honestly", Charmy shook his head theatrically, like his older team mate, grateful for any kind of relief from having to refer to the third member of the Chaotix still on Angel Island, "see what I have to put up with people?" There was a disgruntled snort from behind him even as the others had to rein in smiles; looking behind him, the bee wasn't overly surprised to see the crocodile folding his arms and looking disdainful,

"Oh issat so? Well then Mr Clued-up, you best fill me in".

"With pleasure"; _this is good – if we keep going like this we'll be able to slip in the other thing I thought up about Espio's no-show afterwards – hey, wow_; even as most of him squared up to take on the gauntlet Vector had thrown down to him, the bee realised he was planning ahead at the same time – the feeling was all at once so normal and so unfamiliar that it took him slightly unawares; _I'm usually no good at that sort of stuff – is this what being an adult's all about? Never mind, they're waiting_; thrusting the other issues to the back of his mind for now the bee looked up and his voice rose, lecturing his ignorant friend in the more intimate details of echidna reproductive biology, "what happens is after about six, six and a half months, the lady echidna starts to grow a pouch along her belly, a bit like a kangaroo's pouch only a bit smaller. After she lays her egg and it hatches, the baby goes into the pouch and stays more or less in there until it's weaned – at least"; that was the bit he wasn't too sure about and, as such, he looked around to the Mobian who might have had the best idea in the room as to if he was right or not, "that's what happens with wild echidnas. Is it the same for you lot up here on the Island?"

_Give him a bit of credit, it's more than I knew about our feral cousins_; though Charmy wasn't in actual fact correct in his assumptions, Julie had to give him kudos for trying.

"Sort of, but not quite in our case; yes we grow pouches for our babies but they don't stay in there full time, they only go in when they need a feed you see; we don't breastfeed, simply because we don't have breasts – I know it sounds odd", as she raised her hands Julie felt fully justified in giving herself a pat on the back for not giggling as she outlined this rather ticklish topic, "but it's true; when the baby's in the pouch, the milk sort of sweats its way out of the lining and he or she licks it up. It's probably a little bit more messy than the mammal way of doing things but it's worked well so far for us, and when Junior's not hungry he's outside in the big wide world, usually in a buggy or something like that, soaking up the sights, crying and generally making life hell for his parents".

"How long are they in there for, usually?"

"As little as possible; mum always said if I'd been in with her any longer she'd have started charging me rent", Julie chuckled before shrugging, "it varies – some kids'll be weaned before they're six months, others can take anything up to a year". Vector nodded at the former Legionnaire's explanation before, almost against his will but driven by an unstoppable morbid curiosity, he felt his gaze flick downwards slightly towards her chest and, more embarrassingly than that, he knew she'd seen such immodest glances; before she could say a word though, he tried to rectify the situation by stealing some of her thunder,

"So, ya don't let 'em suckle, but, no' wannin' ta sound rude, ya still got sommat…"

"Everyone says that", Julie sighed before the sight of Rouge, her husband and Charmy fighting to hold down sniggers made her realise the discrepancy between what she'd said and what she'd actually meant; as her face exploded red-hot with embarrassment she tried desperately to rectify her mistake, "no, stop it all of you, I never mean it that way!"

"Aww, Shadow been telling you a few home truths at last – joke!" Charmy's danger sense suddenly launched its needle straight into the red zone and as he saw Julie's Look blast into him like a derailed freight train he knew he had reason to be grateful to it once again. Wisely falling quiet and just waiting for the storm to blow over, the bee did his best to look innocent and try to slide the second of his made-up reasons for Espio not being with the rest of the Chaotix into the conversation at a fortuitous moment as Julie, still bright crimson, tried to get her point across with a bit of help from Rouge, the bat able to recover from the giggles slightly quicker than everyone else due to her shared gender with the embarrassed echidna,

"As I was saying", she tried to muster attention to what she was saying and, realising that the rabble in front of her was probably as good as she was going to get, she soldiered on regardless, "we don't have breasts in the traditional, mammal sense; what we've got up top is basically a reserve of fat for when the baby starts to need milk – because of that echidna ladies all have chests. Just because our kids don't suck on them doesn't mean they're not necessary for them to grow up".

"That's true, Lara said something similar when I asked her; take it from me running your hand lovingly over your partner's chest only to find out he doesn't actually have nipples is a shock and a half", Rouge chipped in as Knuckles shrugged; _come on, if echidna girls don't have them there's absolutely no chance the guys are going to end up carting them about is there?_; "but if you think about it, there's a lot of sense there; after all, normal breasts aren't much more than reserves of fat to produce milk for babies are they?"

"Well, that and for the dads to have fun with as well", Shadow broke in before a devious smile flitted over his lips, his eyes set on Julie's back as the echidna was facing away from him, "but I thought they had something to do with balance as well?"

"Balance? What?" As the bat looked confused, her former team-mate jerked his head towards his flatmate, now grinning from ear to ear as he realised everyone else was taking interest in his words as he set Julie up for a fall she well and truly deserved; _especially after last thing Christmas day – a sprig of holly in the bottom of the sleeping bag was low even for you_;

"Well look at the example I've got, it makes sense; I don't think Julie would be able to stand up at all if she didn't have some weight upstairs to counterbalance her rear end".

There were a succession of shocked gasps and sniggers, the loudest noise of all a pair of slaps as Vector suddenly clamped both hands down on the side of his jaws, trying not to let a grin form on them as Julie whipped her head around so fast Rouge, sat next to her on the settee, was forced to let out a squeak of pain as her ears were lashed by her friend's dreadlocks,

"Right, you're dead"; Shadow bounded off his seat, grin a mile wide and Julie threw herself to her feet and tore after him, everyone else vacating the floor post haste as the two flat mates continued to wind each other up. Huddled together on the settee, the pair of guardians were in the eye of a hurricane as Shadow and Julie raced around it, one intent on catching the other, the other intent on staying uncaught.

"You're going to suffer when I get my hands on you!"

"I suffer when you're around period", Shadow shot back, nipping behind the armrest and trying to work out Julie's next move as he finished, "hands or otherwise".

"You're going to wish it was just hands Shadow"; not quite sure why she was saying exactly what she was saying Julie went with the flow regardless, "forever's a long time to be in pain".

Those words, perhaps more than any others could have, brought the black hedgehog up short; Julie snarled and made ready to pounce before just in the nick of time she ran through what she'd said again and all the fight fell out of her like a handful of rocks. Stumbling to a halt the former Legionnaire just about managed to avoid cannoning into the back of her flatmate as he stood stock still for a minute, a breath no doubt wrestled down deep within him as the sudden reminder cast everything in a very different light for him. His memory recently repaired by Enerjak, the current lord of the Dark Legion since the disappearance of its founder Dimitri following the cataclysmic destruction of the former grandmaster's ultimate weapon and counterpart to the Master Emerald, the Bloodstone, Shadow now knew just how true that last comment ran as, unlike everyone else, all the friends he loved and treasured in the world, he literally did have forever. _And didn't I just have to go and bring that up for him_; regardless of how irritated she might have been Julie knew that there were some places she just shouldn't go when dealing with her flat mate, least of all if she was trying to make a joke out of anything, least of all a personal one; _he knows what's going to happen to him, the last thing he needs are constant reminders_.

Awkward and knowing she was in the wrong this time, Julie's eyes fell to the side and by chance flicked to the stilled screen of the television; a flash of inspiration suddenly lit up the inside of her mind as the memory of the first echidna she'd seen on this tape, the oldest member of the Brotherhood of Guardians and by macabre coincidence Shadow-look-alike Spectre; _they really are more alike than just in looks! Think about it girl, one's lived a long time and gone through a lot, the other's just about to set out on that path knowing what's coming to him in the end – not to mention Knuckles realising that no matter how long she lives, he's going to lose Rouge a long time before he eventually passes on_. If ever there was a time she had disagreed with not just the teachings but the principle of the Dark Legion itself it was now; how could eternal life for everyone be a good thing but, on the other hand, if no-one ever died, would that be better, knowing just the same people your whole, eternal life? _Ah, not right now_; before she could get too involved in that mental struggle she forcibly thrust those issues to the back of her mind and returned to her immediate problem – she might not have liked the solution but that didn't matter, right now it was one of those times she simply had to swallow her pride and apologise with her head held high,

"Sorry Shadow", her voice was soft, all traces of anger and humour gone from it now, "I shouldn't have said that".

The hedgehog said nothing for a moment, standing where he was and facing away from them all as he tried to keep his head up, brace himself against the awful knowledge that choked the path of his long-term future in blankets of weeds and bitter thorns; however, just before Julie was working out if she should speak again he actually turned around, taking a breath as he did so,

"Nah", his eyes were towards the floor, abashed as he realised that her apology, while welcome, should have never been necessary in the first place; there had been hurt as well as anger in her expression just after he'd delivered his cutting line, "it's me that should apologise, I really should've grown out of delivering lame jokes like that. I mean I haven't been around Sonic for well over six months now", he chuckled and Julie let out a very low sigh of relief; _at least he's fair-minded enough to take his share of the heat_; "so there's really no excuse. Anyway", the black hedgehog seemed to be struck by something for a second, crossing his eyes in contemplation as he stated his point slowly, the cure of a smile following his words as he saw the point of his own argument, "I thought we were talking about why Esp wasn't here; when exactly did babies and breasts enter this conversation?"

The silence that ensued from the former ultimate life-form's statement was so deep it was almost philosophical; it was a stillness in which nirvana could be traced, profound reason could be attained and the problems of the world all put to rights simply by being placed in the middle of minds rendered absolutely blank by a pointless question with no obvious answer; it was also ended abruptly by a chuckle from the floor in front of the lounges' cheap seat,

"Because", Charmy managed to splutter before getting a grip on his laughing and drawing himself up tall, running a hand over his antennae suavely and raising an eyebrow in a manner that might have been classed as seductive if employed in the correct scenario, "we're all four hot-blooded young males in the company of a couple of very good-looking ladies – what else would it be right for us to talk about? I would have said we move onto the legs afterwards, but", he mentioned as everyone, even those two very good-looking ladies he had mentioned earlier, tried to look disproving as the bee eyed up where Rouge was sat down without either grimacing or grinning at his inflection, "I've been on the end of those legs on occasion; a pleasant experience it was not".

"Just you remember that next time I get you in training Charmy", the guardian promised him forebodingly before swatting Knuckles on the shoulder, "well what are you sat there for? Defend my dignity will you – it's one of the reasons we tied the knot wasn't it?"

"Was it? Sometimes I forget why I married you; must have been the alcohol Thunderhawk forced down my neck, and anyway you've got no dignity right now; plenty of indignity mind", he added quickly as the bat crossed her arms and glared at him, though the echidna was almost certain there was something trying to tug the corner of her lips upwards and, thus encouraged, carried on almost recklessly, "and as far as I'm concerned that can look after itself well enough". Rouge bared her fangs, barely recognising the change in pressure next to her as Julie sat down on one side and Shadow dropped back into his former position behind her husband; _attaboy Blackie – block him in so I can rip him apart_;

"Can it now? Something tells me you need a reminder of just how unpleasant an experience being on the wrong end of my legs is". Knuckles didn't miss a beat, the answering line appearing in his head as though by marriage,

"Not as bad as being on the wrong end of your tongue I assure you". Rouge blinked; had Knuckles just made a comeback, and a snappy one at that? She couldn't believe it, not even as she saw her former team mate lick his finger and hiss – it was only when Charmy's voice came to her that she realised her husband had well and truly turned the tables on her,

"Oww, owned", the bee shuddered before grinning up at where Knuckles sat preening victoriously, "first time I've ever heard a snappy line out of you; even Cream can usually put people down better than you", Knuckles might have opened his mouth to argue that point but the bee, having seen one opportunity to cement his case for getting Espio the time off she'd demanded from her Chaotix duties go to waste, was determined not to let another slip and was just too quick for the echidna to react to, "but anyway, leaving you pair to your connubial tiff and getting back to the original point, I reckon there's going to be something else keeping Esp away for a bit".

It was strange but Charmy could almost feel the gaze on the back of his head, though he trusted Vector would have enough faith in him not to come in before he was invited in, which the bee would do as soon as he was able to engineer the opportunity. As things were, however, he realised everyone else was waiting for him to speak and seized the bull by the horns before he could be dissuaded,

"Apart from him getting ill, there's something else I might have seen; it's hard to tell though because you can't see by his scales, but I reckon another reason Esp might have been so hot and bothered recently is because there's a shedding due".

XXX

_Charmy, you are a fully-paid up genius_; of course, that would work, why hadn't he thought of it first – was he not, after all, a reptile? Now what the bee had said during their walk here made so much sense; Charmy was usually always the first to spot the tell-tale signs that either of his team mates were about to lose their old skin and grow up a bit more, and the entire shedding process, from the old scales dying and starting to itch to the new skin underneath finally hardening up following exposure to the air, was about a fortnight all told; _or more, 'cause we said she's ill, that'd make it drag on a bit_. As Vector silently heaped vociferous praise onto his younger team mate from the sidelines, Charmy once more lit up the centre stage with his explanations,

"Yeah, she's, I mean he's – sorry", the icicle dagger that seemed to have skewered Vector's chest slowly began to melt as Charmy corrected himself and made his explanations for his slip-up, "all this girl-talk's messing up my youthful mind, and after living with these two I'm already messed up enough as it is. But anyway, he's been getting even rattier than usual and he's been hot and bothered for a couple of days, so I reckon he might be busting out of himself soon enough, though the fact he's not in the blush of health probably won't help matters".

"I shouldn't think so", Shadow agreed before tapping two of his fingers together and asking a question, his vermilion gaze levelled across the room at Vector, "how would that affect him?" _My turn then_; finally banishing the last gasps of shock that had paralysed him after Charmy had made that horrendous faux-pas, the crocodile returned the hedgehog's curious gaze with a contemplative one, trying to answer from past experiences with his friend's skin shedding and his own personal experience of being ill at the time,

"'Ard ta say really – chances are it'll just slow it all down by a coupla days or more", he shrugged, rubbing the point of his chin, "still, don' reckon it'd be a full shed, 'e's prob'ly full-grown b'now; 'opefully won' be too bad overall". Julie nodded, shuddering as though remembering something unpleasant,

"I hope not; Shadow told me what happens when Mobians like you are growing up", she shuddered again, face a mask of distaste, "it sounds awful; ripping out your own skin, urgh".

"Jus' like 'atching frum an egg really; it don' 'urt, in fact by that point it's itchin' so bad yer grateful ta see it gone", the crocodile tried to reassure her; though he could tell she wasn't entirely convinced by his reasoning, more important to him was the fact that the Chaotix overall now had one if not two cast-iron reasons to get the chameleon time to find a way out of the mess she'd landed them all in. Deciding quickly it was better to quit while they were all ahead, the crocodile simply drew a veil over the conversation as much as he was able to,

"Still, 'nough 'bout the wall-crawler draggin' us all down even when 'e ain't 'ere; far as I'cun work out, we're all 'ere to 'ave a laugh so dame", Julie looked over, a little flattered by the title she seemed to have acquired from the head honcho of the Chaotix as he nodded at the remote sat on the armrest next to her, "hit that button an' get the show on the road, though if we're 'avin' a brew b'fore 'and I wouldn't say no".

"Hey, you know where the kettle is", Shadow bristled, mouth agape at the crocodile's brazen attempt to take advantage of his hospitality, "go make it yourself if you want one you lazy swamp-sucker". Vector's bale eye sought the hedgehog out as he gripped the armrests of his chair and heaved upwards, coming to his feet with a nod in the hedgehog's direction,

"The people who say I'm lazy neva met me uncle Seb", he complained, talking half to himself as he made slow, stately tracks towards the kitchen, "'e was so laid-back 'e neva got up to eat; just used to sit in 'is chair and throw 'is dentures at the fridge". There were a selection of chuckles from the assembled Mobians, Rouge out of all of them managing to keep her cool the best and forge a reply,

"And did it work?"

"Well it got me aunt out of 'er seat ta make a tray up fer'im", Vector mused before acting quickly to stifle protest at this act of callous chauvinism, "jus' as well I neva took after 'im really; now, who want's a cuppa?"

XXX

She couldn't feel her extremities any more; good, overall she had no need of them – much like the part of her mind she was trying to excise, they had no real purpose other than to slow her down and weaken her overall abilities. Eyes still shut and each breath in her chest painful as inhaling razor blades, the chameleon still sat upon the bed that was now hers, the chill in her lungs still helping her, forcing her body to become strong from the inside even as she hammered again and again at her mind and her memory. Like a disobedient puppy that had soiled itself, she seized her mind and buried it in the mess that had been last night, plunging headlong into the fires of her shame in the hope of reappearing on the other side of this trial by fire renewed and reforged into a stronger Mobian. _They saw everything_; ire stoked the simmering fury in her chest as Espio peeked open one of her eyes just a crack, a thin scowl on her lips as once more before her tearful vision she saw Charmy and Vector gawp down on her, already envisioning the taunts and snide asides they must have been planning in their mind; _and they will use it against me, just like they did when I was defeated by Amy Rose, damn her and her poxy hammer to hell. But I will rise above them and their silly little games_; pins and needles raced all the way up the chameleon's arm but regardless she forced her fingers to close, the expression on her face hardening into impassiveness as she overcame another pain barrier, sundered another obstacle in her path on the road to true victory, complete and utter mastery of her own mind, soul and body; _anything you three do, it doesn't matter. Everything you throw at me I'll overcome, every remark, every word and every dig in the ribs, you're just trying to put me down but it won't work, nothing will work_; the fist formed at last and she glanced down at it, feeling the sluggish blood labouring through her veins as they compressed through her tautened wrist; _all you're doing is making me stronger. And when I'm strong enough…_;

She didn't answer, mostly because in her mind she knew she didn't have to, the answer was as plain as day, but also there was the fact that, in a small corner of her mind, the same part of herself that she was still at war with and trying to eradicate, for it was a weak, feeble part of herself that kept leaving her open to attacks from other people. Espio scowled, remembering the folly she'd had trusting this weakness, relying on the goodness of others to see her through – there was no goodness, nothing except a base desire to use her in whatever manner they could get away with. It was a useless, lame ideal that she still, despite all her attempts at toughening up and denouncing the world for what it was, a cruel, hard place where all that mattered in it was you and what you could take from it, couldn't banish utterly. Everyone else was the same; there was friendship only as far as it was useful for people – she was under no illusion that the Chaotix would cease to exist tomorrow if a better offer came along for any of the Mobians in it. _Mighty even only got the job because of a mistake_; that was a cantankerous sore for the chameleon to have to stomach and her eyes hardened again as the full unfairness of the armadillo's acceptance into the team burned in her belly once more; _if it had been up to me I'd have asked Spectre to wipe her slate clean and sent her on her merry way. But leave that_; even as the thought crossed her mind she recognised it as a distraction – there was no time for petty brooding on past grudges, she had more important matters that needed her attention; _I'll deal with her some other time. As for when I'm strong enough…_; her eye closed again, the disgust etched on her face as once more she was forced to open her fist, delay her decision and let her strength disperse, her notions of camaraderie and friendship allowed to persist another day; _…we shall see._

XXX

The screen was thick with static for at least half a minute before anyone even realised the tape had run out; pounding her fist weakly against his her husband's thigh as she slumped over his lap, Rouge groped blindly for the remote and finally fumbled it into her hand, pawing at the black oblong until it eventually shut off the screen before her, the television going reassuring black once more. Glancing down at the foot of the settee to check that Julie, who'd fallen off the foot of the couch during her last laughing attack and had been ominously quiet since, was merely helpless with laughter rather than simply fainted with hysteria-induced fatigue, the bat tried to compose herself a little better and, pushing down on Knuckles' knees, heaved herself back to a sitting position, the sight of her partner's face almost breaking her resolve once more as he glared at the now-dead screen thunderously,

"So", his face twisted towards her, volcanic ire met and matched by tidal mirth, "how long was it then?"

"Three and a half hours"; _how can a voice that flat be funny?_; the small part of the bat that could still think coherently begged her to answer her own question as the rest of her sniggered aloud with more mirth, Knuckles' next words simply oil on the already blazing bonfire of her giggling, "and if you'd have asked me beforehand I'd have said that my grandparents wouldn't have acted like that for three and a half _minutes_ in a million years!"

"Oh come on", despite their earlier reservations it seemed that eventually the two Chaotix present at this latest shaming of his had managed to eventually get into the swing of things, Charmy especially, "they live underground in a massive bunker all their lives, give the guys a little fun?"

"I'll be giving them a good hiding next chance I get", the guardian shot back, disgustedly shaking his head as he pushed his wife further over towards where Shadow was sat smirking silently, looked down to make sure he wasn't about to tread on where Julie was just coming back to a sitting position and then clomped over to the video player, ejecting the tape and scowling at it venomously, "all that and now this, and at Christmas as well – what the hell was Spectre thinking?"

"Grandfather Spectre Knuckles"; _don't mess me about darling_; the tiny stub of fuse left on top of his temper suddenly sparked again as Rouge's sugar-sweet voice sang out to him; _not right now when my grandpas have left me begging for death again_; "remember your manners now?" The echidna huffed, snatching the bag the tape had been delivered in from the table he'd rested it on and stuffing the travesty of a family at war inside it, face still burning as memories of the antic he and his friends had been exposed to burned across his retinas once more,

"I'll remember them about as well as that lot do – bloody toffee-nosed sods all of them, and complete hypocrites too".

"Welcome ta my life", Vector grumbled from his seat, lips parting into a toothy grin as Knuckles raised an eyebrow his way, "at least, 'fore I moved outta my folks 'ome; wipe yer feet, pull out chairs an' say yer graces, huh – I coulda counted the times any of 'em actually lissened to their own rules on me tail, an' what are you smirkin' about?"

_Huh – uh oh_; realising that he'd been a little careless, Shadow was nevertheless sure he'd be able to gloss this one over,

"Oh, sorry", she smiled and chortled once more, red eyes crackling as though the memory he was engrossed him was still making him snigger even now, "I just remembered, that Sojourner trick – now there's a novel use for Chaos Control…"

"Nice try"; _what?_; his face must have been a dead giveaway – as his blood iced up in his veins Shadow's head had whipped over towards the crocodile's seat and his expression must have been an open book for someone as shrewd as Vector was; _oh boy, pull out gun, aim at toe-caps, pull trigger and then some_; "you only started crackin' up when Knucks said sommat 'bout Spectre; care ta start spillin' yet?"

"Yes Shadow", a certain unease prickling up and down his spine, Knuckles turned to gaze piercingly at his hedgehog friend, taking an ominous step forwards and thinly amused as the former ultimate life-form seemed to take several backwards, squashing himself up against his armrest and gripping onto it as thought for moral support, "got something you want to say?" Acutely aware of the interest this conversation was germinating all over the room and, unfortunately as far as he was concerned, he had no way of wriggling free of the hook he'd dived onto. Trying hard to think of something positive, Shadow's mind clicked into overdrive mode even as it considered how to get across the delicate information the guardian desired; _honesty is the best policy – just remember this is Knuckles – he might be a bit crusty around the edges and on edge because of everyone showing him up, but he's still a friend, he'll always be my friend and nothing's going to change that_; just at that moment he glanced up almost hopefully into the guardians' stern visage and the smile plastered on his face froze and broke off into pieces; _oh who am I kidding, he's going to clobber the life out of me_;

"Well", he spoke delicately, daring to take another glance first at Knuckles, then at the window just behind it, eyeing up if he could make it before the echidna sprang – so far the odds didn't look like they were in his favour, "don't suppose there's any chance of getting away with keeping my mouth shut?" An evil glint in his eye and even eviller smirk on his lips, Knuckles shook his head and raised his hands simultaneously,

"Tell you what Shadow, two options; tell me what you know and I might beat you up, or don't tell me and I'll beat it out of you, how's that sound?"

"Can I help?"

"Of course", Julie beamed like a sunrise as Shadow shuddered, wincing at even the thought of the two echidnas working on him at the same time even as Knuckles carried on speaking, "you hold him and I'll do the punching".

"Can't we take it in turns?"

"Oh I suppose so, unless he's going to be a spoil-sport"; _too right I am_; caught between the devil and the deep blue sea the black hedgehog realised it was time to blow up the armbands and start treading water, gratefully seizing on the deal Knuckles held out to him, "well Shadow, decision please?"

"Right, okay", he raised his hands even as Julie pouted at him, cheated of her vengeance for his slighting of her earlier as he chickened out into telling his story; _still, nothing I can't use to make him squirm later, especially if he gets Sonic on the phone at the time…_; "well, it's a bit of a story…"

"Trust me", Knuckles interjected with a nasty leer, blocking his friend's stalling tactics, "we've got time". Perspiration condensing on his brow, Shadow grinned tepidly before, crossing his fingers behind his back, he faced the jury of his friends head-on and addressed them forthrightly,

"Okay, suits me, I know when I'm caught out", he tried to play for a laugh but met only stony silence; _wow, tough crowd_; and that did nothing to calm the butterflies in his stomach, "but okay, I admit I might have had something to do with this, but…" and it was a big but as far as he was concerned – for a second he was tempted to compare it to another supposedly big butt, however reason, fear of Julie-Su's wrath and the fact Knuckles looked like he was about ready to unleash his own kind of massage onto both himself and his property if he didn't spill the beans soon dissuaded him from doing so. Instead he raised a finger up forewarningly, a fencer's blade to parry aside the looks of his friends before he levelled its lethal tip to one of them, Julie's eyes widening as she found herself singled out with her flatmates' words echoing in her ears,

"…I did it to help you Jules; the only reason we got such a show today's because I gave Spectre a couple of ideas in exchange for what he knew about the Legion".

XXX

_Every time_; in an abstract way she should have expected something like this – it was just like Shadow to pull a rabbit like this from his hat right when no-one, least of all her, suspected it; _and of course, no chance he's making this up either – I can tell when he's lying and when he's not_. However, with the vast majority of herself dealing with the present rather than the peculiarly illogical, Julie found her jaw dropping as she tried to take in what the hedgehog was saying; like everyone else around, she was speechless as Shadow, now noticeably more relaxed than previously, sat back in his seat a little, a faintly abashed smile playing around his lips as he realised that he perhaps had, unfortunately, dropped one of his friends in it a little despite the greater good such a sacrifice had done.

"Yeah, happened just before the pair of us went out to see that film, oh I can never remember the name; the one you told us about Vector, dead funny, we were rolling in the aisles, screaming with laughter…"

"Sounds like us jus' now", the crocodile riposted with a toothy smile before becoming slightly more serious and nodding, "yeah, I know the one yer on about; you 'member it Jules?"

"I, er, I reckon so", she said uncertainly, mind still a bit of a blank from Shadow's earlier bombshell; realising that was probably about the best he could have hoped for, the hedgehog carried on his explanations, voice a lot softer now, talking more directly to his flatmate as he realised he was going to shortly come to some treacherous ground as far as she was concerned,

"Well, after that, and remembering what happened, just before", the hedgehog mumbled contritely, really trying to skirt around that issue if at all possible as it was a can of worms he didn't want to open again if he could avoid it, "I mean I'd made my mind up before that, a lot before that – actually Rouge, you gave me the idea in the first place". The bat looked up startled as both friends and spouse whipped their attention over to her,

"Me? What did I say – I mean I never…", throughout her rant Shadow had never lost eye contact with her and for that he was grateful; the look of realisation as it flooded from her eyes and across her face was almost worth having to tell this story at all as Rouge wetted suddenly dry lips, voice harsher and cracked this time, "…oh wait, yes I did. I know what you're on about; you went to Spectre to find out about the Legion, I told you he advised the council about them".

"You did", Shadow nodded, taking a second to make sure Julie was still with the general conversation as a whole before moving on slowly, "in fact Charm you've got a bit of hand in this as well; the way Julie looked after you showed her 'round town, that really set my course in stone". After a second of thinking, the bee sparked up just as Rouge had done as he too realised the time period the hedgehog was referring to, as did Julie now, the echidna shivering for a second as she recalled one of her darkest hours in her life after the Legion; _they all rallied around after they went for me – admittedly_; just for a second her eyes wandered sideways and she had to swallow a sudden lump in her throat as the target of her gaze hove into view; _some more than others, a lot more_. And just her luck, having finally thought she'd paid the hedgehog back enough for stepping in where he had, up he came again with another twist in a tale she thought she already knew, another sting from a nettle she thought she'd cast from her hand; _typical!_

"But after she got back, pretty much next day I went to see you, actually I was after you Knuckles, thought if anyone would know about the Legion it'd be you – I mean, after all", Shadow gave another, slightly embarrassed laugh that Knuckles mimicked a second later, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand as he did so, "to them you're public enemy numbers one through to ten".

"Tell me about it, though in fairness I very rarely see anything of them, and when I do they usually back off nine times out of ten; ah, but I know when you're on about now", the echidna had snapped his fingers with an exclamation of revelation, "I remember you told me Julie had been, er, I mean…" Realising he'd blundered straight through territory everyone else had been doing their level best to steer clear of, Knuckles cursed his ineptitude at conversation under his breath and did the only thing a Mobian in his situation could do, "…sorry Jules". His augmented counterpart sighed, holding up a hand,

"Don't be, I mean look on the bright side", with a sudden wicked smile, she pointed at the television and the bag the guardian was still carrying, "at least we can now literally look back and laugh hey?" Knuckles growled in annoyance before, realising he'd probably never get a better chance than this to get the whole story out in the open, Shadow overrode both his friends to carry on his story,

"But anyway, I got there and bumped into Rouge; she didn't know what had happened so I filled her in, then after that and putting our heads together for a bit she pointed me in the direction of Haven, telling me that Spectre's got more to do with the Legion than either she or Knuckles have managed thus far. I actually didn't catch him first time around, bumped into your grand and sixth-fathers Knucks", the guardian nodded at the same time as work out who that translated into; when he'd managed this feat he shuddered; _out of all of them, those two would have got my money to row all the time – they're so different it's unreal_; "and we had a bit of a conversation, basically ending up saying Spectre's due home tomorrow. Hey presto, come Sunday guess where I am?"

"Haven perchance?" Though it hadn't been strictly necessary to answer what was a blatantly obvious question, Charmy knew that the more naturally he and Vector behaved the less likely it was that their erratic behaviour today would stick in the minds of their friends and employers, and as he was usually a chatterbox he determined it was worth opening his mouth this time around. Just as an extra bonus, he reasoned even as his cheeks burned with embarrassment, everyone else sparing him a glance halfway between annoyance and pity at not recognising the rhetorical question, they all seemed to have believed his acting, none more so that Shadow. Shaking his head in annoyance at the unexpected hiccup, the hedgehog carried on where he'd left off,

"Quite; so I go back down and end up in that library your seventh-father's partial to, we have a bit of a chat and discussion and basically, despite being a lot more clued up than the rest of us, not even Spectre's a hundred percent sure what the Legion's up to most of the time. After I heard that", the former ultimate life-form shrugged, rolling his shoulders in a would-be careless manner, "well, the rest as they say is history".

"History?" Knuckles repeated carefully before bringing one fist into his open palm and cracking one set of his namesakes, scowling again as his pale, lilac eyes sought to pin Shadow to the far wall, "take it from me Shadow, if you don't explain how you're going to see those living relics of mine wound up in this", he thrust a finger towards the bag in disgust, "you're going to be bloody history!"

"I'm getting to that", the hedgehog huffed indignantly before settling down again, framing how to put the last piece of this verbal jigsaw neatly into place, "but anyway, when I saw him Spectre looked a bit ragged – just being polite, or nosey depending on how you look at it, I ask why and talk about opening the floodgates"; once more the face so hauntingly familiar to his own crumpling into weary outrage flashed before his eyes and he fought to stop a grin spreading from ear to ear; _the most powerful guardian of them all brought down by those he loves most. Reminds me far too much of how Sonic and I used to get on, and still get on come to that_; unable to stifle his smile and chuckling completely, though reassured that the threatening frown seemed to have been temporarily uprooted from Knuckles' lips, Shadow pressed on to nail his point once and for all, "basically I get a lot of verbal spew about how fractious living in the Brotherhood actually is and, just for a laugh mind, I tell him I might know a way to get his own back – I never thought he'd actually go and do it".

"I'll probably regret asking", Rouge sighed after a few agonising seconds had ticked by, the hedgehog obviously daring them to give him a lead in to hear his final lines, "go on, what did you say?"

"The same thing Amy told Sonic and I she was going to do at least once a day when we were bunking together below", the ebon hedgehog chuckled with a smile, "I told him if he wanted to name and shame his grandkids, he aught to rig up a load of small cameras throughout Haven and tape away, the bribery would have been enough to keep anyone quiet, even Athair, maybe", Shadow modified his guess after actually remembering some examples of Knuckles' great-grandfathers' eccentric behaviour; forcibly shoving such disturbing memories aside, he faced the room at large one last time to round things off, "but I guess he's a bit more fed up than I thought. No wonder he called it 'The Truth'; he wanted you, and probably you guys as well", Vector and Charmy both nodded as Shadow pointed them out, "to know what really goes on in Haven when everyone else is away".

For a second he thought he might have got away with it; that second, however, ended very abruptly when he saw Knuckles take a very purposeful step forwards, uncrossing his arms as he did so with a meanly evil smile on his lips. As the echidna's foot fell once Shadow backed up several steps, hands outstretched placatingly as he tried to think up a novel way of defusing the guardians' rage,

"Knuckles, no point going for me…"

"Oh there isn't, is there?" The guardian hefted the brown paper bag that contained his extended family's most recent shame, "not from where I'm standing there's not – if you hadn't opened your big mouth, none of this would have ever happened".

"I just told Spectre the idea, I never thought he'd actually go through with it", Shadow shot back, defending his motives at the same time as stating his case, "and anyway, I don't care how embarrassed this made you feel, the fact of the matter is I reckon it was worth it".

As the black hedgehog's finger pointed her out once more Julie felt something thud into her stomach like a fist; now she thought about it, and she could see on the faces of everyone else that they were thinking pretty much the same thing she was, the more impressive Shadow's research methods had been, to say nothing of the eventual results of his labours, of his re-mastering his lost skill of Chaos Control and using it to hold the Dark Legion effectively to ransom to make it clear that her attackers had been acting on their own, misguided instinct rather than acting out a new change in the Legion's policy concerning renegades. In the light of what they all now knew, the extra people Shadow had unknowingly enlisted and, in this case particularly, outright bribed into unknowingly helping his cause, the hedgehog's sacrifices now loomed up much larger for her than they even had before in the past. Trying desperately to choke some words out through a suddenly constricted throat, the former Legionnaire stepped up and put a hand on Knuckles' shoulder even though the guardian had already taken a pace or two back, pacified by the logic and, more importantly, the emotion ringing throughout his friends' words. As the red echidna settled back a little more, Julie stepped up again, seeing her flatmate acknowledge her approach and lower his arm, the self-defence in his eyes dimming to a more warming, welcoming flame as she finally managed to swallow and speak properly once more.

"Shadow", she had to take another breath, the wind outside seeming to increase in volume around her ears, howling a gale as she tried to speak again, "you did all this, above and beyond what we already knew you'd done…" _I see where this is going_; and, armed with this knowledge, he took steps to forestall what was coming,

"Yeah, yeah, yeah", he said, not quite dismissively, "look, what's over is over, including that tape Knuckles, so there's no point making a song and dance about it now is there? I mean, even if I hadn't been there, Spectre looked so brassed off when I saw him last I'd bet good money he'd have come up with something similar to this anyway". As the guardian nodded reluctantly, forced to see sense even when he'd probably have preferred violence, Julie remained undeterred, extending her hand forwards, the last part of her newest trap falling into place now,

"Even so, you were there, and I'm glad you were; otherwise"; _gotcha!_; as she'd expected and hoped Shadow had instinctively reached out to take her hand –the second she'd felt contact under her glove she'd snapped her fist shut and the sudden spike of fear behind the hedgehog's eyes was delicious as she finished, voice a delirious shriek, "I wouldn't be able to do this! Knuckles", even as she finished wrapping the hedgehog up in a full nelson headlock, she raised her eyes to see the guardian throwing off his shock and smiling wolfishly, her plan clear as day to him now as she reared up, Shadow caught helplessly and forced to see the other echidna incoming, "I'll hold him, you do the punching!"

XXX

About half an hour to forty-five minutes later, despite the slight aches and pains the hedgehog could still feel pinging away merrily under his fur and especially around his arms, where Julie had come close to yanking them out of their sockets as she trapped him in her lock, Shadow couldn't quite bring himself to feel completely the wronged party as he turned away from the front door he'd just shown Rouge and Knuckles out from and saw Julie regarding him from the hallway, arms folded and a would-be cross scowl on her lips as she stared as though daring him to make a comment,

"Okay", as she must have suspected, he duly opened his mouth, "I admit it, I probably deserved that".

"You're dead right you did", Julie stirred into life with a mutinous mutter, uncrossing her arms and walking forwards slightly, "insult me all you like but not in front of friends, understand that?"

"All right, I get it, hey", Shadow suddenly found himself slightly more at a loss as the echidna, rather than stopping her usual arms-length from him, just carried on walking – next second both her arms were looped around his chest, the twin cold patches of her metallic forearms pressed around his shoulder blades as more out of shock than anything else he likewise brought his arms up to embrace her, shock blanketing his thought processes somewhat, "what gives?"

"You deserve this too", the former Legionnaire pointed out a little begrudgingly, "call it payback for the extra hours you put in coming up with that plan of yours that ended up with you and Kragok enjoying a soap-up together. But I'm still angry with you", she added forcefully, sliding out of their embrace suddenly just as Shadow's brain caught up with what was going on; as she stood there with a disapproving grin, the former ultimate life-form finally understood both the cause of her anger and, more importantly, a potential way he had of getting out of it.

"Okay, for the sake of my future health let's get you not angry with me; grab your coat and shoes Jules", she looked dumbstruck as he gave a carefree smile and pushed the door behind him open again, "I'm not in the mood to do any cooking tonight, are you?" _I see where you're going with this_; and she did – however, the only problem with seeing where she was going was the fact that she knew she had to follow his lead because, as he'd said, the last thing she felt like doing now was standing in front of a hot stove rustling up something for dinner,

"Not really", she admitted before cutting off the almost-hopeful look that had begun to spread over her flatmate's face, "but believe me, one wrong line or toe out of place and you're going to be crawling back here; hard to run with shattered kneecaps you know?"

"Now that I do believe", the hedgehog chuckled, watching as she disappeared into the bedroom she had occupancy of for the rest of the week; a few minutes later she reappeared, stooping to pull one of her shoes further onto her foot at the same time as look up at him expectantly. Reaching back, Shadow opened the front door fully and stood to the side, chaperoning the echidna through it before pulling it shut behind them,

"Right then, any idea where we're going?"

"Not a clue; tell you what, when we see somewhere I like the look of we'll pull over, how's that sound?"

"Fine – at least we won't have to walk far".

"What? You're…"

"Paying, and hey, no friends around".

"You got that right", Julie snarled, trying her hardest not to snigger at the appalled, appealing face Shadow pulled in the light of her assertion as she cuffed the side of his head lightly, "now let's go, I haven't eaten a thing since breakfast, which is more than you can claim; I saw you hogging the biscuits you brought in for us all to supposedly share".

"Shut up", Shadow told her mockingly, pushing her shoulder, "you're right, and you know I never mean anything I say like that – you look, and will always look, like you". _Very clever_; that was a neat little line – she couldn't get angry with it directly but, at the same time, she couldn't help but press on for some more information; sighing fatalistically, the echidna drew herself up and launched herself into the question feet-first,

"And what, pray tell, do I look like exactly?" As she knew he would, the hedgehog pursed his lips for a moment, trying to come up with an answer that would both give him a giggle at her expense and ensure he wasn't going to get pummelled flat for speaking it,

"Umm"; _that'll do_; much as he didn't like copying other people, right now he didn't have much of an option, "can I take a fifty-fifty or do I have to phone a friend?" _One of these days Blackie_; not even deigning to give him a response, the ex-Dark Legionnaire turned away haughtily, by happy coincidence keeping the hedgehog from seeing the struggle on her face as she tried to stop herself smiling at his inflection – after all, that had been a good line from Vector he'd so callously pinched; _one of these days…_

XXX

The walk home had been purposefully quiet, in fact it wasn't until they rounded the corner of the street that their house was located on that Charmy found himself a little surprised; clearing his throat, Vector spoke first,

"Gotta admit it Charm", the bee glanced up and sideways, "two absolute peaches ya came up wi'there".

"Cheers, now all we've got to do is remember to stick to them", he chuckled even if his humour was lined with a steely resolve, "and tell Esp what we came up with – want to bet what he'll, or she'll think of them?"

"I wouldn't dare repeat it", Vector came back with as the front door loomed up before them, fumbling in his pocket for his front door key, "chances are she'll be on a shorter fuse'an normal, an' ya couldn't exactly call 'er missus personality at the best o' times".

"True, very, very true", Charmy sighed with weary reluctance as he nosed open their front gate and stood aside, hands deep in his pockets as his older team mate stepped up to unlock the door and let them in to somewhere warm again, "so, what's the plan now then; we've got some room to spin around in if we need it from now on at least". The crocodile nodded in agreement, facing his friend even as he relied on his fingers to find the elusive lock for his key to fit into,

"True 'nough, mostly thanks ta you though", the bee almost blushed at such praise, though thankfully Vector moved on before he had to raise a protest and point out the crocodile had helped him every step of the way, "bu' chances are she's gonna be ratty no matter what we say; best jus'ta kepp yer 'ead low an' jump when she says so, unnerstand?"

"Yep, my sentiments exactly", Charmy nodded glumly, stepping past the crocodile as Vector finally managed to force the door into submission and open the lock that guarded it; the next second he almost jumped back outside, shivering as, expecting warmth from inside, the steady stream of cold air caught him totally unawares, "whoa, where's that draught coming from? Hang on…"

It was a sentence he never finished; much more used to telling both the direction and strength of air currents than anyone else in the Chaotix, the bee immediately recognised the cold air was breezing down from somewhere and was not, s he had first suspected, a draught, it was too strong for that. Unfurling his wings the bee took to the air line, riding the cold air stream to the foot of the stairs almost before Vector had realised anything was amiss; it was as he first set foot on the stairs themselves that Charmy realised the problem might be a lot more serious than he'd first thought; _my room – it's coming from my room! But_; with a sickening jolt that sent hid heart powering into his mouth, the bee found with dread that he had to suddenly correct himself; _it's not my room any more – Esp!_

Pounding up the carpeted stairs, no having the breath to spare to shout back to Vector what was happening, the bee raced upstairs just as he had the previous night, as in the dark as to what he'd find now as he had been then. Within seconds he was in front of the door to his old room, almost shivering in the chill that emanated from it, the coldness in the air, he knew, a lot more dangerous to others he knew that just him. For a lunatic second he was tempted to try to do what Vector had the night before but, even as he raised his foot he recalled two very important facts that forestalled his actions; firstly, he was nowhere near as strong as Vector was and, more importantly, his bedroom door didn't have a lock on it. Slamming his foot down again, almost feeling the stairs behind him shake as Vector clambered up them to see what the problem was, Charmy reached open for the door handle, ripped it downwards, pushed the wooden structure open and came within a hairs-breadth of screaming.

XXX

_So_; her thoughts were dulled even if her mind was still perfectly clear; _that's what that noise was – they're home at last. Don't just stand their gawping_; her mercurial mind easily deduced the reason why Charmy was suddenly looking like he wanted to vomit and dismissed it with contemptuous ease; _if I were dead my eyes would be shut. Still, that will have to do for now_; it was a hard struggle to force herself to move now, she could feel little beyond her centre due to a distinct lack of body heat, the coldness from the window having leached most of the warmth out of her and, in doing so, made it easier for her to focus on the important things she now had to concentrate on – unfortunately, with these two club-footed morons back, there was no way she'd be able to do any more meditation in a similar vein; it was impossible for her to attain anything like inner stillness with these two blundering around. Regardless of that, however, she had to believe that she'd done well today; she knew what she needed to work on now and, like all revelations, it was so disarmingly simple now she'd figured it out she was already cursing herself for missing it as long as she had. For now though, she needed to return to something like a functioning state and, to do that, she needed to get some warmth back into her system – typically, just as the thought formed in her mind she heard someone else answer that dilemma for her; _oh well done Charmy, have yourself a biscuit for thinking for a change – first time I've heard you come up with anything like a good idea in a long time._

XXX

She was a brittle blue-white colour and sat so still, the chameleon resembled nothing more than a life-sized ice sculpture sat in the full force of the biting wind; bile rose in the back of Charmy's throat as he beheld what he was sure was the corpse of his friend, dead as the coldness had reached in too far and stopped her heart. All at once he cursed himself for not thinking for one of them not staying behind to guard against the possibility of this happening, cursed Espio in anger and sorrow for being forced to take this drastic step to avoid the clutches of whatever demons had played havoc in her head last night and, as he heard someone behind him swear vociferously as they saw the same sight he did, he spoke in a cracked, broken tone,

"Vec, quick, run", as he turned to address the crocodile he had to swallow both his bitterness and his tears as he came up with a plan, obviously a plan to late but at least it was something, "run a hot bath, we, we need to get her hot again; she might not be…" Before he was forced to utter the word that he couldn't bring himself to say, there was a nasty, gritty laugh from somewhere; looking up into the crocodile's shocked face, the bee realised Vector hadn't been the one to speak and, knowing this and shivering once more, looked over his shoulder to see the blue chameleon, eyes burning with an inner fire that seemed to be slowly spreading downwards and releasing the rest of her from shackles of chill, grate another dread chuckle and, slowly as a glacier, begin to move once more,

"Bad news for you", she growled, seemingly without breathing, "I'm not dead yet. I'm going for a bath now, nice idea for once Charmy"; the bee didn't actually notice the acid in her compliment – he was too busy seeing her move, wondering if it was possible that she'd actually lose toes or fingers from frostbite as she pulled herself to the edge of the bed, then stepped off of it, a grimace on her face as the pain in cramping muscles ate its way up her legs, "bath then; don't bother", once more her voice stopped the other two moving, Vector this time the target of her displeasure, "I assure you I'm perfectly able to handle this on my own. I don't know how long I'll be so don't wait up". With that and denied pain etching every line in her face, the chameleon stepped forwards, reeling a little her and there but on the whole still possessing enough self-control to push past her two team mates and step towards the bathroom. Both watched her go, mute once more as she spurn both help and good intentions, not able to move once more until the end of her dragging tail had disappeared around the door frame and a slam told them it was shut again.

Some time after even that, Charmy managed to force himself to move forwards and slam shut the window that had been open all day, though right now, it wasn't the cold that was making him shiver any more; _she looked at me_; once more Espio's flint-hard eyes ripped into him and he forced them away in his mind, his own eyes shut as he tried to block out the memory; _why – what did I do wrong?_ In desperation almost, the bee turned around to look for Vector, hoping against hope the crocodile would have an answer, any kind of answer, but there was nothing. Vector seemed to be as void of ideas as he felt as, almost as though aware of the bee's gaze upon him, he glanced up at where Charmy stood and found his debt of helpful ideas reflected straight back at him.

As both Chaotix stood for a moment, united only in their desolation, both heard a silent question running through their minds, one that even together, right now, they could not answer; _what's going to happen to all of us now?_

XXX

Steam coiled upwards as the hot water splashed into the bath and Espio, though not entirely relaxed by the sensation, was still a little grateful to feel a little of the warmth present in the steam start to percolate its way through her scales again. Such an intense meditation, though necessary, hadn't been exactly pleasant and now, it was true, she needed to heat up once more and there was no better way of doing so than submerging in a scalding hot tubs-worth of water. _First time for everything I suppose_; once more the macabre humour pricked her sardonic sense of humour; _Charmy comes up with a novel idea for something without anyone dropping hints the size of anvils for him to pick up on – I guess miracles do occur occasionally_.

Luckily, reliant as her body was on head from an outside environment to get the gears turning, Espio didn't suffer from suddenly going from a very cold environment to a much warmer one; all she registered as she slipped first her feet, then her legs and then lastly the rest of herself into the full bath was a sudden burst of energy and adrenaline, her metabolism perked up by the desperately-needed warmth. Her stomach growled as the hunger that the cold had been suppressing reignited but, as she held her breath and let her head sink below the water, Espio stilled her need for food for a few more minutes, feeling the cold at the back of her head and behind her frill banished at least, leaving her warm enough to face what remained of the day. As the water sloshed over her she felt herself once more, a slight sensation of peace filtering through her body, a necessary relaxation after such a long period of simultaneous self-examination and self-denial – necessary it might have been to reveal the truth to her but, though a ninja would never have dreamed of complaining about physical discomforts, there was no denying that she could have thought of more comfortable ways of spending the day.

_But, at the same time_; opening her eyes under the water, blinking as the adjusted to the heat until she could see a clear, if blurry, picture of the bathroom ceiling above her, the chameleon mused one of life's paradoxes before moving on to the real meat of the issue, girding her loins to tackle the next big issue she had to get a handle on; _comfort is a chimera – it dulls the sharpened edges I need to cut through the challenges of life. And I must regain the cutting bite I've lost, that they have taken from me_; the water above her rippled as she narrowed her eyes, concreting her newest goals immovably; _working with the others has stopped me developing my own skills, improving my own mind – it is time to get that level-headedness, that self-reliance, back for good._

_No matter the cost, or the consequences…_

A/N: So Spectre strikes again – he's a cruel old man when he has a mind to be isn't he? But as for Espio, what exactly does she want, and how high a price is she willing to pay to get it?


	4. Chapter 4 Return of the Armadillo

Chapter 4 – Return of the Armadillo 

Chapter 4 – Return of the Armadillo

A/N: This should have been up a little while ago but last weekend was much busier than even I expected and the writing time suffered. Still, here we are ready to go straight after, of course, my thanks to the reviewers:

Ri2: Heh, you really think that's the last you'll be hearing about the guardian's expose? I wouldn't bet on it if I were you, but for now, we'll have to focus on the 'crazy' chameleon.

Artemis: Has Esp done growing - well she's not shedding her skin now put it like that. Good thing Charmy can think on his feet though isn't it?

Rowan: Trust me, all your questions will be answered in good time; whether you like the answers though, that's a different kettle of fish entirely.

Willow: Unbearable - considering what we've seen so far I'd say you were giving her a compliment there! But how can she get any worse; it's not possible surely...?

SM: Ah good, I like a reader who notices little things like that. Very subtle threads can be picked up on occassion - with any luck you'll see more about this in the fic after this (and to answer a previous question you had, no this fic is not the last the arc byany means).

Wolf: No, I doubt Esp would lock herself in a closet, though if Vec and Charmy were to stuff her in one between them I doubt anyone would hold it against them too much!

His hands were shaking so much that it was a mercy he was trying to pour milk rather than tea; somehow he couldn't banish the vision of the blue/white chameleon from just behind his eyes, her colour coupled with the hellish vigour in her eyes made a dread spectre that grappled with his mind even now. Eventually however, more out of necessity than anything else he supposed, Charmy managed to fill the pair of cups with the required amount of milk just as he heard the kettle behind him coming to the boil; moving back across the kitchen towards the fridge, still not entirely steady on his tottering legs, the bee pulled the door to the cold storage unit open and grimaced at the bitter chill; _had enough of that already today_. Hastily he shoved the milk bottle back where it belonged and slammed the door shut, hearing some of the condiments inside clinking together in protest at his rough actions before seeing Vector heft the boiled kettle and, taking a second to steady himself, lift the lid of the tea pot to pour. Knowing the crocodile must have been feeling the strain at least as acutely as he was, Charmy wisely waited until his older friend was done adding the water before asking his question, an odd sense of déjà vu swirling in his stomach as he searched for a cloth to mop up the spilt milk – for some reason it felt like he'd done all this before last night,

"So, Vec", the crocodile was still for a moment before, with a great deal of effort, he turned around and Charmy found himself trying very quickly to change the subject; _I can't ask it_; and he couldn't, not seeing his friend the way he was now, not when Vector looked more careworn and haggard than Charmy could ever remember him looking, not even during the darkest days of the Chaotix Detective Agency; _not when he's under this much pressure_; "quite a show wasn't it?"

For a second he dared hope the note of upbeat optimism he managed to sandwich into his last few words had fooled Vector into believing that was his original query, but he hoped for a second and no longer than that; even as he watched on Charmy felt his spirits fall a little further as the crocodile shook his head, his expression one of grim fatalism tinged, maybe, with a hint of slight appreciation.

"Nice try Charm, bu' I know what yer thinkin'; same thing I am"; _and I am_; the bee knew that much was true – just this once there was no doubt in the mind of either of them that they were both reading from the same page entirely, "I can't believe she were tha' stupid neither; I'm gonna try an' straighten this out 'ere an' now, not havin' 'er 'urting 'erself on my watch, or yours and bugger what 'er code does or don't say".

"Good", relief spread over the bee's soul faster than the spilt milk had soaked into the tablecloth, "I do not want to come home and see her, or, her looking like that at least, any more, in fact ever again".

"Me neither, once were 'nough", the crocodile assured him with a rock-steady stare, broken only by a shudder as he too recalled the ice sculpture Espio had turned herself into by such a long exposure to the cold, "though, don' cross yer fingers on it mind, I reckon tha' might be the last time anyhow".

"How'd you work that out?"

"Think 'bout it Charm", Vector encouraged the bee to think, speaking again a minute later only after seeing the bee struggle to fit the pieces he had arranged together in his own head, "she were doin' some kind o' meditation thing an', might be me bein' fergetfel 'ere, bu' I'm sure las'time she were doin' that, she neva needed no windows open or anythin' like that, right?"

"Right? Oh"; _that might work – oh please_; if what the crocodile was suggesting tallied with his own ideas now, Charmy found himself reciting an internal mantra to make their ideas reality; _please, if you're up there and listening, please let it work properly. Come on_; trying to force his pleas up to heaven by the force of his will alone, the bee added extra impetus to this thoughts; _this isn't some busted old heater I'm talking about, this is another Mobians' life here_;

"I see, you reckon this was a one-off, trying to get over the, ah, the thing that happened last night that we're not going to mention again?" Vector nodded, reaching behind himself to give the tea pot a swirl; more than the rest of the Chaotix, he liked his drinks strong,

"Right – don'old yer breath like, bu' we're due a rub o' the green an' I reckon I'm 'bout ready to cash it in at this table, whaddya say?"

"I'm in", the bee sighed, the normal high emotion in his voice drained out by fatalism; right now, he didn't care what it took or even how much, he just wanted things back the way they had been before this cursed Christmas had even started, "what's the plan?" With a grunt, Vector reached forwards with the tea pot, the burning liquid contained within it hot enough to steam any residual thaw from his fingers as he poured into the cup the bee held out for him,

"We take 'er at this table an' we straighten this bit out; like I said, I'm no'takin' sumthin' bad as that more'an once. After that", he shrugged, pulling out a chair and sitting down, shaking his head as he did so, "no idea mate; we jus' gotta keep our 'eads clear an' the story straight – 'opefully after that Esp'll get 'er 'ead screwed on right b'then". _And she should_; if nothing else he'd ever seen from the chameleon was true, the simple fact that Espio was usually the first out of any of them to adapt to changing circumstances gave a weak ray of hope into an otherwise gloomy frame of mind. However, as he looked across the table to see Charmy raise his cup to his lips mechanically, eyes dull and dead as he drank without even feeling the heat of the tea nearly scalding his lips, even that faint prayer began to echo hollowly in his mind,

"As you said earlier", he spoke slowly, ears as alert as Vectors were for the sound of the bathroom door upstairs opening, giving them the opportunity they needed to get this issue out of all the ones pressing onto the Chaotix as a whole into the open and sorted, "I'm not keeping my fingers crossed for that one".

"Me neither Charm", the crocodile answered a minute later, mentally capitulating after being worn out by a fruitless search into trying to find an optimistic answer to the bee's uncharacteristic dolour, "me neither".

XXX

Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately they couldn't tell which in the end, both Mobians downstairs didn't have long to wait before they could get this issue out into the open; as with most reptiles, Espio didn't tend to stay in a bath for long for the simple reason the water, and therefore she, got colder the longer the event dragged on. As there was the click of a door being opened upstairs Charmy hastily gulped down the rest of his tea, gagging on the lukewarm taste of the dregs as Vector crossed his fingers under the table unseen, hoping to enlist fortune to aid him before the chameleon actually arrived. There was the sound of someone coming downstairs, the repetitive boom of footfalls sounding like the tramp of doom before, abruptly and so suddenly both Vector and Charmy jumped, the kitchen door swung open and Espio entered, not even sparing them a glance as she immediately set about finding something to calm her rumbling stomach.

Wisely keeping quiet for now, Vector eyed his team mate quietly as she quickly pulled open the cupboards and began ransacking the hoarding space to try and find something worth eating in there; knowing it'd probably be a wasted effort to try and talk to her before she'd managed to rustle up something to eat, he simply stayed where he was and motioned for Charmy to do the same. Luckily the bee was on his wavelength this time around and kept his thoughts to himself, in fact staying as still as Espio herself had appeared to be a few minutes ago, until with another couple of slams, the ninjitsu disciple appeared at her seat in the table, something vaguely edible-looking in a bowl in her hands. _Well, here we go then_; Vector drew in a breath heavy with fatalism but, to his outright shock, Espio beat him to the proverbial punch,

"I know", her voice was slow and statesman-like, her eyes not wavering from her meal as she probed the contents of her bowl with her spoon, "what you're both thinking". She said nothing more and, cursing her mentally for making this more difficult than it had to be, the crocodile steeled himself to drive over the roadblock she'd pushed in his path,

"Been cluein' up on that' skill o' readin' people 'ave ya?" He gave a grim chuckle, though when the chameleon didn't respond, not even a scathing glance in his direction, the impromptu leader of the Chaotix stifled another mutinous rumbling in his chest and spoke again, "okay then, whaddya think's goin' through our 'eads then?"

This question finally got a response; spoon halfway to her mouth Espio paused, glancing up at him squarely, almost challengingly before letting the first bite of her meal drop back to the bowl, filled with something that made Guardian's Relish look almost appetising as she spoke again, the same slow, deliberate venom infusing both her words and her tone as she spoke again,

"You, and you I imagine", Charmy looked up startled as the chameleon indicated him with a flick of her head, though to his credit his expression quickly swallowed such a flickering of fear just before Espio finished her sentence, "were afraid I had frozen to death of my own free will", she gave a snort of dark humour, dismissing the notion with a shake of her head, eyes narrowed and glittering with an evil mirth, "that is both a stupid thing to think and a lack of understanding on your part".

"Understanding what?" Charmy folded his arms, geared towards resisting whatever it was she had to say next; _code, laws or anything like that – there's no reason for you to do that to yourself_; "you looked like you were dead, sat there and not moving – if we'd been a few minutes later…"

"I would still be here now", the chameleon cut him off forcefully, not letting any argument sway her words as she eyed him up levelly; after a brief second of silence, the bee back down almost imperceptibly and, thus encouraged, she moved on, "I know what's safe and what isn't for me. The point of the matter was I needed to think, and to do that I needed to be cold, just short of hibernation in fact, to make sure I was in a fit state to sort out my mind; since last night it's been…unfocussed".

"An' ya think it's been a picnic fer the two of us, do ya?" Vector folded his arms, looking disapproving; Espio merely sent a nasty look his way and sighed,

"Obviously not but that's besides my point – the fact of the matter is that I was perfectly safe in what I was doing up there, you had no need to worry about me. As I believe you've said several times in the past Charmy", the bee looked up, not liking the sound of this too much as Espio singled him out, a thin, cutting smile just beginning to slit across her lips, "I am, am I not, sly and sneaky enough to look after myself?"

"Well", after a short pause and frantically racking his brain to come up with a line to better that one, the bee was left blank-minded and able to admit only the truth, "yes, but if ever there was a case for otherwise…"

"There isn't", Espio cut straight across him, the same smile now even deeper on her lips than before, "as I've said before, regardless of what has happened I'm still Espio; would the Espio you know run the risk of freezing to death?"

"Umm, no but…"

"Exactly", the chameleon spoke as though she'd just made an unassailable point in this debate, "therefore what makes you think I would now?"

"The fact yer prob'ly not got yer 'ead screwed right on yer shoulders this time 'round", both Chaotix looked up as Vector spoke from where he'd been sat quietly, his eyes trained onto Espio and not wavering in their gaze, "yer've no' been actin' yerself since then, an' I, Charmy too I'll bet", the bee nodded enthusiastically as Espio continued to look sour, through at least she was still listening to the crocodile's arguments rather than dismissing them out of hand, "can unnerstand that. But I'm no' prepared ta come 'ome an' see sommat like that again; Charm weren't the only one ta think yer'd tried ta…"

"Then you're both as stupid as each other", Espio growled back, speaking again just before Vector could raise his voice and shout back, not liking the tone of bitterness in her voice, "look, if it's any consolation it will not happen again". _That seemed to work_; much as she didn't like making compromise, this time it seemed like the only way forwards through this annoying obstacle, and it seemed that Vector was taking in what she was saying – as she knew by dint of long personal association with the crocodile, reason and promises could sway the leader of the Chaotix, provided he was calm enough to listen to them,

"Good; I don't give a damn what your code says Espio but I know I don't want to come back and see you half-dead from the cold again, understand?"

"Yes, I understand completely", she snapped back at Charmy's feeble attempts to act tough, "I've done what I need to do anyway, that make you feel any safer?" She watched on, thinly amused as the bee's mouth snapped shut as for the first time he heard and digested her words; _he must be wondering what I meant – won't be long before he asks…_;

"What you done then?" She turned in her seat again, the question asked by Vector than Charmy; the crocodile was sat with his arms folded, gaze intent upon her as though sizing her up, "what 'appened up there while we weren't about?"

_Something tells me it's going to be nothing good_; the crocodile knew that much for certain, knew it with every fibre in his body, and the way Espio's shoulders suddenly rippled with dark mirth didn't help inspire him with confidence either. When she'd recovered enough to speak, the ninja looked up at him with a crooked smile, no trace of amusement in her eyes as she spoke once more,

"I did a lot of thinking; you know how it is Vector, you should do anyway – when's the time we think clearest of all? On the brink of hibernation, the brink of falling to sleep, that's when our minds are crystal and we can really understand what's going on. Am I right?" The crocodile shifted uncomfortably in his seat for a minute, not quite used to being the one questioned even if on this occasion Espio's tone had been quite mild rather than acerbic as it usually was,

"Yeah", he said eventually, "gotta give ya that; it's odd, bu' ya neva more aware than when yer on the edge", he said, almost as an explanation to the still figure of Charmy, the bee taking this information in but not saying a word as Espio, now certain she was getting this conversation back where she wanted to go, spoke again and finished her story off,

"Good, so I put myself on the edge, as you put it", she inclined her horn towards where Vector was sat, his eyes still on her and making her bristle; _look somewhere else will you – it's not like I'm going to turn into a monster and rip you apart with my bare hands, much as I'd like to_; forcing herself to ignore such annoyances, she pressed on, "and from there I found out what I needed. And before you ask, I'll tell you what that is".

Both other members of the Chaotix started as in a single, fluid motion the chameleon stood up, her chair barely moving backwards as she came to her feet and looked down, scooping up her still-untouched food and stretching her tail out – normally she didn't like sitting down for any great length of time for that exact reason, it made her tail go numb while Vector, with his thicker scales, could avoid such a problem nine times out of ten. Heading towards the kitchen door, she waited until she could just begin to hear the first rumblings that would have preceded an avalanche of demands for her information; when the first of these whisperings reached her ears, she paused and turned around, looking both of the others dead in the eye, muting their mutterings before saying slowly,

"I need to be left alone for a while; do not disturb me until I say otherwise, is that clear?"

"What, Espio I don't…"

"I said", it was the way to deal with these two – she just had to repeat herself until she got the answer she was after, "do you understand?"

"Umm", as usual, Vector was slightly slower off the mark than Charmy and, in this instance, gave her what she wanted to hear, "yeah, we get it, but…"

"Then, in that case", she wanted to make this quick; as far as she was concerned she had little time to do what she wanted to do and every minute she spent her explaining herself before this incompetent inquisition was a minute wasted, "we've nothing more that needs saying right now. Just leave me be for a while – when I'm ready, I'll see you all again, oh, though before I go", she paused at the door, something close to curiosity on her face as she spoke again, "what did you tell the others, while you were over there? And what was the whole furore about in the first place?"

XXX

Charmy was not, as anyone who even vaguely knew him as an acquaintance would tell you, in the business of being malicious even at the worst of times; however, the question Espio had casually back-handed his way seemed to shake the bottle he'd forced his mounting feelings of anger and anguish into just a little too much. Before he was truly aware of what he was saying, his tongue was forming words that struck absolute terror into a heart even as well-guarded as Espios,

"The truth", he said simply, revelling in the look of horror on Vector's face almost as much as the greyish colour that began to sweep over Espios' body, a sure sign something had rattled her deep down; _after everything you've done so far, you've lost the right to expect any sort of let up from me_; "we said you're actually a girl and had your first visit of the monthly ghost last night and you've been in a bad mood since. What, it's true". Wearily elated with evil triumph, even if deep down he was furious with himself for playing someone who, despite her hard-nosed attempts to cover it up, was still vulnerable because of the recent upheaval, Charmy merely glanced up serenely as Espio's normal colour returned and then went darker, her colour matching the fury he could see blossoming in her eyes like a mushroom cloud,

"You", her voice was a mechanical grating sound, the fury within it a rain of daggers that would normally have flayed him to the bone but now just glanced off his unwitting shield of grievance; he just carried on looking innocent and sipping his tea as her hands drew back, "you, said that…"

"No, 'e said nuthin' o' the sort"; _damn it Charm_; quietly infuriated at the bee, Vector limited his frustration to a furious glance as he tried to pour oil over troubled waters between his two other team mates, "we just said y'were ill wi'the same thing 'e had, an' ya were going through a shed at the same time, that aught ta give yer'fair bitta time off, which is what ya wanted weren't it?"

For a second he was terrified it hadn't worked and geared himself to spring on Espio if she tried to pounce on and pummel Charmy, though truth be told a fair part of himself was tempted just to let her get on with it after hearing the horrendous lie the bee had just spun. He gripped the side of his chair and made ready, then with a silent sigh of relief he settled back down again, grateful beyond words that just this once the chameleon seemed inclined to let sleeping dogs lie. Instead of burying itself in the bee's innards, her horn swung around to single him out, the flint in her eyes telling him she'd tolerate no more lies and even less humour on his part,

"That's what you said?" He nodded,

"Yeah, or sommat close to tha' at least – they believed it no bother, I mean come on, they all saw 'ow ill Charm were a coupla weeks back".

"How long will this deception last, roughly?"

"Dunno", and he didn't; he could only give an estimation, "'ow long were Charm outta commission? Bu', on the bright side, Knucks don't want you 'round 'is mum 'til yer completely cured 'case ya give it ta 'er or 'is little brother, so yer've got time Esp. What ya do wi'it's up ta you now, we ain't gonna stop ya doin' anything ya wanna do – it's yer 'oliday after all". The chameleon nodded, her expression solid as stone, everything that could have been hurt withdrawn behind a shield that nothing anyone else within or without of the Chaotix had yet been able to breach,

"So it is, and now", she headed back towards the stairs, bowl still in one hand as it seemed she would be eating in her room tonight, "I'm going to begin my holiday. Don't disturb me, if I want anything I'll get it myself".

"Suits me", Vector replied colourlessly, grateful beyond words that Charmy didn't reply as right now he was sure the bee opening his mouth would have just thrown oil on the fires, "see ya 'round". The chameleon nodded, toed open the door with one foot and disappeared through it; Vector waited for the sounds of feet going up stairs to end, the slam of a door upstairs, then he swivelled in his chair, face to face with a suddenly shame-faced bee.

"Right you"; _here we go then_; much as it had seemed like a good idea at the time, Charmy knew he'd crossed the line in a big way, "what were that for?"

XXX

"It was", though he knew he didn't really have a defence for his actions as such, the question had at least given Charmy an opportunity to explain his reasons slightly and cast them in a different, hopefully more beneficial light, "for her being an obnoxious, stuck-up prig". Vector raised the proverbial eyebrow he didn't have, a slight smile on his jaws and, reassured a little by the sight of it, Charmy found himself breathing a little easier,

"Where've you been; she's been that fer years. But", the bee lowered his head, already knowing how much of a foul-up he'd made, "tha's no excuse Charm; yer an adult now, yer've gotta act like one".

"She doesn't, and don't tell me she's got an excuse for scaring the pair of us like that", Charmy shot back, a little more venom in his voice as he shuddered, the memory of Espio apparently on the border of life and death not forty-five minutes ago still enough to give him the shivers now, "I don't give a toss about all that calm enlightenment rubbish, there are some things that just shouldn't happen and scaring your team mates half to death has got to class as one of them". Sighing, Vector nodded slowly, keeping his voice low to avoid alerting suspicions upstairs,

"Much as I 'ate ta say it Charm, you an' me are singin' from the same hymn sheet there; if it hadn't been you it'd'a been me an' tha's the last thing we need right now".

"No", Charmy corrected him, "the last thing we need right now is her acting like this, but since that's exactly what we've got I supposed we'll have to make the best of it. Look, I'll say sorry tomorrow, after we've had a chance to all cool off a bit – tensions are running high for all of us right now". With a gruff chortle, Vector reached over the table and patted the insect's shoulder,

"Now tha's an understatement Charm, one o'yer finest ta date. Anyway", standing up from the table the crocodile cast his gaze in the vague direction of the fridge, wondering what leftovers were left from the celebrations that seemed a lifetime distant; _blimey, was it really Christmas day twenty-four hours ago?_; "grab a plate an' if yer want it cookin' ya know where the microwave is, got it?" Seeing exactly where he was going with this, Charmy hopped off his seat and stood up, unfurling his wings for a second to get some air back into them after they'd been hugged to his back for so long,

"I got it, now", nipping ahead of the crocodile, the bee opened one of the cupboard units and pulled out a couple of plates, hearing the door of the fridge squeak open behind him; _damn, gotta get some oil onto that thing sometime_; "let me know what's in there because I'm starving".

XXX

_You will show nothing – their opinion counts for naught_; the same thought echoed in her head over and over again, a scowl on her lips as she realised she'd failed once more earlier – she would not tolerate such lapses on her part any longer. She should have been able to see through Charmy's lies, she should have been able to read him better than she had done, instead of falling for his crackpot story headfirst like she had; _and anyway, so what if he had told anyone? They're opinion counts for nothing – what they think do not matter to me, in fact it is irrelevant_; and so it should be, after all, what was the point in all these others being around her anyway, other than to make up for skills she did not herself possess? All they were doing really was either showing her where she was going wrong and indirectly helping her improve, as was the case with the guardians and the training techniques they had imparted to the Chaotix as a whole, or, as in the case of the two idiots downstairs, they were holding back her progress, impeding her drive to become the best. _But they will not do so any longer_; once more sat cross-legged on her new bed, the chameleon focussed her point of vision on the snowdrop in front of her, the flower; it was always a flower that held her focus when she mediated as for some reason they were able to centre her mind better than anything else she'd so far found in her life, stark white in front of her as she let herself slowly wander, trying to leave her thoughts behind at the same time as finish the one she was currently engaged with; _it is time for them to learn, as I now know, that I do not need them. I will make my own way on my own two feet_; the flower in her mind's eye fractured, the image broken by anger at both her weaknesses and her team mates pointing them out to her; _and they will never stop me again!_

XXX

The morning dawned cold yet bright; with a yawn and stretch off, Charmy flopped his legs out of bed and stood up, walking forwards and…suddenly he cursed, hopping on one foot as he grabbed the shin that had just barked into something solid and painfully heavy. Through gritted teeth and blurred vision against pain so acute so early in the morning, the bee whispered a cursing hex before looking at the source of his discomfort; _huh? What's that, and where's my wardrobe – oh, yeah_; gingerly placing his injured leg on the floor again, the bee consciously reminded himself that he was no longer in one of the single rooms of their three-bedroomed home – as of last night, he was now sharing with Vector in the main bedroom. As he recognised this fact again, some of Charmy's natural humour bubbled up within him once more and he smiled; _room sharing, and if I'd have kept walking we might have ended up bed sharing too_; and in a sense he was right – after all, he had just walked straight into the frame of the crocodile's bed, though thankfully he didn't seem to have woken the sleeping dragon in any way. Counting his blessings again as he knew how grouchy Vector could be first thing in the morning, especially if he was forced to get up before he'd had a chance to heat up properly, the bee felt around the darkened room until his fingers found the top of the chest of drawers that now housed his attire and personal effects. Quickly dressing himself, the bee made it to the bedroom door and quietly slipped outside, shutting it slowly to prevent the bang waking anyone else up before giving himself a brief shake-down and getting on with his idea for the morning.

His plan wasn't much of a plan, he was the first to admit that, but it was a step in the right direction and that surely had to count for something. Ever since last night his conscience had been prickling him nastily, reminding him of how deeply his bare-faced lie may have scoured Espio's vulnerable emotions at this time and, through a combined need to assuage his guilty conscience twinned with basic survival instinct that not getting back into the chameleon's good books pronto could prove a problem for his future health, the bee had devised something close to a solution to one, if not hopefully both, of his problems. Arriving in the kitchen, he switched the kettle on without even looking at it and, on the way towards the fridge and the cupboards, flicked his eyes to the calendar again – ah good, he had been right, today one of the guardians was on the early shift for looking after the Master Emerald shrine. Coupled with the fact that, sandwiched as they were now between Christmas and the New Year which, Charmy reminded himself with a jolt of surprise, the echidnas did as a whole celebrate in a peculiarly restrained way, there weren't any real long-term island management issues concerning Knuckles and by extension the Chaotix, no morning shift meant he had a free morning to get his ideas into practice.

As he heard a familiar rumbling from behind him, the kettle building up steam as he tried to remember how much milk to add to the lifeless brown cereal Espio seemed to eat every morning, Charmy caught himself wondering about the echidna, for want of a better word, religion as a whole; _if anything_; admitting that is general knowledge on the topic ranged somewhere between nil and non-existent, the bee still felt he could give a reasonable guess;_ I suppose you'd call it pagan – after all, they celebrate the New Year, and the solstices and equinoxes instead of things like Christmas and Easter. I suppose it makes sense though_; and it did to him, mulling the idea over in his head as he moved about the small downstairs room and picking random odds and ends out of the cupboards and from off the table, as well as sneaking the odd chocolate from an open tin in the fridge; _longest day and the rest of it happen no matter where you are in the world – the other holidays only really happen because of events I doubt the echidnas would have heard about when they were lost in limbo. How long were they gone though, and what was it like to…ah, forget it_; as always when his curious mind sent him down alleyways such as this, the bee forced himself to turn back, reminded in the nick of time that it was both a dead line of questioning for those who hadn't lived through it, and a very painful one for those who had. After all, the one Mobian who could have answered his query was now probably dead, destroyed by the mental and emotional backlash from the destruction of the Bloodstone, the former ultimate weapon of the Dark Legion and its founder Dimitri, while those who were in a position to guess at the length of time didn't like to be drawn into the topic – the Brotherhood, after all, had each been abandoned in the wilderness by their fathers, and been forced to do the same to their own infant successors, though Knuckles would hopefully be the one who could break that chain forever. _Or at least, he will if his mother's got anything to do with it_; the smile that touched the bee's lips as he remembered Lara-Le's words about her potential grandchildren was wide but quickly shrank back, polluted by sadness for her sake – there was another one who'd been hurt by the exile the echidnas had endured, though hopefully, since reuniting with her son once more and finding someone else to love and be loved by her, she was healing from such pain more quickly than ever before.

The thought of Lara, and how cheerful both she and Wyn had appeared to be last time he'd seen them, was a tonic for the bee; it kept him going all through the hour and a bit of solitude he had to sit through before he was joined by someone else. Rubbing his eyes and inadvertently banging the side of his head as he sought to force his speakers to pump some life-giving melody through to his ears, Vector threw open the kitchen door, stumped forwards a couple of paces and collapsed in the nearest seat, Charmy out of instinct setting up a place at the table for him, mindful of the crocodile's aversion to the start of the day, least of all a cold one such as this. As he laid out knife, fork and spoon in front of the mat, Vector blinked and looked down at his endeavours; _three, two one and…and…_; the bee fancied he could almost see the reptiles' sluggish brain trying to fit the pieces together, work out both what was going on and something to say about it at the same time – it must have been a hard struggle, there was a pause of at least a quarter of a minute before the his normal morning growl, not to mention morning breath, rolled over the table, forcing Charmy to cover his nose.

"Urrgh, wha'time is it?"

"Time for you to get a couple more hours mate", the bee answered, looking a little concerned as he realised it wasn't like Vector to be quite this bad first thing – it'd be just their luck for him to actually fall ill right now, when they were pretending it was Espio who'd succumbed to pestilence, "you look rougher than you actually are and take it from me that's quite some achievement".

"Ha-ha", the crocodile answered acidly, forcing Charmy to recoil from the foulness of his reeking breath, "you wanna be a comedian someday Charm, well don' go practicin' on me pal, I got more one-liners in me than the local A an' E department, hear what I'm sayin'".

"Say what you like just don't breathe on me", finally stepping backwards into some marginally fresher air, Charmy risked a shallow gulp of air through his mouth, "did you forget to brush your teeth last night or something, it stinks!"

Once more the reptile was silent for a minute before he gave a start and groaned, face sinking onto his knuckles as obviously something Charmy had said struck a chord with him; just before the bee could enquire however, he spoke again, voice a little more understanding this time around,

"Ah, tha' might be it; sorry", Charmy raised an eyebrow as his informal leader gave a sheepish grin, "wi'one thing an' another, I fergot a coupla things last night, that musta been one of 'em. 'Ang on, I'll go freshen up a bit". He was half stood, quite an achievement in itself considering the state he was in this morning, when Charmy managed to put two and two together about what the crocodile was saying and quickly raised a hand to forestall him,

"Hold it Vec, wait", the crocodile slumped back down, an oddly thankful look on his face as he obeyed the bees' command without really thinking about it, letting the rest of his words wash over him like a gentle rain of explanation, "at least get some breakfast down you first, save you having to scrub up twice in a morning. Give the scouring pads a break will you?"

"Huh, well I guess I could, an' I'm starvin' fer a brew…hey"; _about time_; Charmy masked a smile as suddenly the crocodile's eye opened, a little clearer now and levelling a hard stare directly at him, "no takin' the mick this early; no fair kickin' a croc when 'e can't think ta defend 'imself".

"That's no good to me Vec, you don't think period if you can help it". The eye that had him locked in its sights constricted its pupil even further – Charmy was under the distinct impression that given another couple of seconds there'd be a targeting sight in his partner's eye aiming right between his eyes,

"Wha'did I just say?"

"Dunno, I wasn't listening – okay, okay I get it", the bee relented in his teasing just as Vector gripped the armrests of his chair, looking like he was as ready to pounce as he ever was this early on in the day. Settling back down, he restricted his annoyance at the bees' antics to a single disgusted grunt,

"Jus' as well, now get the tea made, I need some central 'eatin', an' some real eatin' come ta think of it. Wha'sin the fridge?" Already heading that way to get the milk for both the drinks and the breakfast spread he was putting on for Espio, Charmy pulled the door to the article in question open and took a peek,

"Umm, right", he made a bit of a show of scratching one of his antennae, confusion written on his face, "well, you've got a choice between some slimy green stuff, some furry-looking brown stuff or…okay, I'm looking away now", slamming the door shut with a grossed-out expression on his face, the bee shuddered before glancing up at where Vector was watching on, an amused expression on his face; _good, that means I'm getting somewhere_; "Charmy's first rule on eating; stuff in the fridge you have to hunt down and kill yourself usually isn't worth the bother".

A slight chuckle rumbled out over the kitchen, culminating in a harsh slap as the crocodile slapped his stomach, the scales there barely registering the impact as Vector spoke out, motioning towards the ground cupboard where the toaster was usually kept,

"Ah, jus' butter up a coupla slices an' spread it all on top of 'em, nuthin' the ol' furnace down 'ere can't turn ta ash an' powder", Charmy chuckled at his friends' joke before pausing, looking around as a more curios note entered Vector's voice, "though speakin' o' which, yer no' tryin' ta choke that muck down again are ya?"

"Huh, what? Oh god no", realising the crocodile had set his eyes on the tray he was making up for the first time, the bee wrinkled up his face in distaste, "tried it once remember, that was far more than enough for me I can tell you. No, this is for her upstairs; I know, shock horror and all the rest of it but, I did a lot of thinking overnight and", trouble clouding his brow like a storm cloud pregnant with rain, the bee faced his older friend openly, hoping the crocodile would be able to help him work something out in his mind that had been troubling him mightily most of yesterday evening and all the morning as well, "I, I think I understand what you were saying yesterday. I shouldn't have done what I did to Espio – yes, she was annoying and making life hell, but still, there are limits aren't there? This was all I could think of to say sorry, and…"

As another noise other than his own voice percolated through his one-track mind bent on speaking, Charmy tailed off into silence as Vector laughed a little more; _what's so damn funny – here I am up here spilling my guts trying to make it all right while you just stand there and laugh at me!_ It was so maddening that the stiff hairs on the bee's back and abdomen bristled and shook, a sure sign that an insect of any description was getting ready for a fight, before they suddenly stopped, deflated as their owner saw that, rather than being malicious, the crocodile's mirth was aimed a lot more genially, and certainly not aimed at him in any way. Now more curious than outright outraged, Charmy waited patiently for his friend to put a cork in the font of his giggling before asking; just as Vector managed to get something like a handle on himself again, the bee leant forwards,

"Something amusing?"

"Hmm?" _Hang on, what was I laughing at?_; it must have been something important but, seeing Charmy squaring up to him as he was now could he recall what it had been? For a minute his still-chilled head lost the gist of the thread it had been following before, due a lot more to luck than any planning on his part, the crocodile's gaze wandered past his team mate and, settling on the condiments still piled on the side of the kitchen, twigged his hazy memory again, giving him the information he needed to answer Charmy's question; _now all I gotta do is frame it right_;

"Oh, sorry mate, nuthin' yer've done I promise; well, sorta", realising he probably wasn't doing a good job of explaining this, and backed up in this assessment by the sight of Charmy folding his arms and looking sceptical, Vector took another breath and tried again, "I was jus' thinkin' – that mebbe the first time I've 'eard ya think 'bout sumone like that, in tha' way I mean. Think 'bout it", he preserved with his point, hoping the bee would be able to follow it in the end, "us 'ere, the Chaotix, we're always yankin' each other's chains, even Might gets in on the act a bit – probably the most responsible out the lot of us and she's as bad as we are. Most o' the time, if we cut a bit near the knuckle, we just slap shoulders an' say sorry, bu' you thinkin' like y'are, tha's part o'growin' up, a big part. Good on yer mate", he inclined his head respectfully as Charmy goggled, thunderstruck as up until this point the real implications of his actions simply hadn't sunk in at all, "proves yer comin' of age – keep it up an' ya shouldn't 'ave too many problems wi'er, even in 'er current mood".

For a moment there was silence, broken only by the hissing from the top of the kettle as it came to the boil again, Charmy having had to reboil it to make a drink for his team mate. Licking suddenly parched lips, the insect tried to stop his voice from shaking as he spoke again, trying to come up with something, anything that might have sounded like an answer to the crocodile's flash of wisdom, but nothing fell to him. Instead, suddenly shy and perturbed by the feeling – usually out of all the Chaotix he was the one most comfortable with words – Charmy simply shuffled backwards towards the kettle, fumbling behind him and almost scalding his fingers off the stream of hot steam that still gouted from the top of it like cinders from a firing volcano,

"Err, thanks and all, but I wasn't really, you know; I was just trying to apologise, you know?"

"'Course I know", Vector nodded sagely before nodding at his still-empty cup, "tha's wha bein' an adult's all 'bout in the end. Lissen, gotta plan; after we've 'ad a bite o'something and a sip o' something warm, le's get outta this place fera bit, jus' go out an' leave Esp in peace. I know wha'yer gonna say", and he did; holding up a hand to forestall the inevitable protests, Vector brought himself enough time to explain his plan fully, "leave it by 'er door; tha' way she can find it when she's ready an' you know well as I do green tea tastes as nice cold as it does 'ot". Charmy's expression was a mask of distaste,

"You got that bit right – urgh, foul stuff it is. But anyway, I like that plan and, let's face it, what else were we going to do with the morning when Knuckles and Rouge have got the shrine covered? In that case then, you eat up and heat up while I", he deftly poured out the water from the kettle, making sure not to splash any of the loose green tea leaves out of the cup as he did so; it was easier said than done due to the perfectly round shape of the bowl Espio drank her tea from, "get the rest of this sorted. Won't be a second".

XXX

What time it was when she drifted back down to herself, called back to her physical shell by an irrepressible call of nature, she didn't know and cared about even less; all she knew was that next time, she would resist such an urge even longer and therefore improve – only by testing herself against boundaries such as these could she improve on them. Standing up swiftly from her blankets, where she had been resting in a position that to a casual glance would have feigned sleep, Espio had actually been awake for a long while now, holding herself rigidly immobile and denying herself any chance to break the waiting by doing anything other than simply breathing. As she had decided last night, this would be her way now for the foreseeable future; until she was sure enough in herself to continue training in a physical manner she would not be idle – instead she was vigorously drilling her mind over and over again, still ashamed that it had failed her so catastrophically earlier and even more determined, if it was possible to achieve such a state of mind, that it would not do so again. Rising early and making sure to spite herself a little further by getting dressed before she moved out, and even more than that, getting dressed slowly and deliberately, the chameleon was finally ready to go about ten minutes later; with a final inspection of her surroundings, Espio gave a nod as she realised all was as it should be. Opening the door and stepping outside, it was only her instinctive reactions that prevented her stepping right into the booby-trap that had been left just to the left of her new room.

Leaping back her mind was already ablaze with potential strategies, all of which would have left a potential attacker either sorely wounded or, if the circumstances demanded it, dead, Espio landed in a traditional fighting stance, senses alert and thrumming to size up the situation more accurately. A second later she dropped her arms in disgust; _as I suspected – a typical, immature practical joke. So much for him growing up at all_; obviously she was supposed to step on the tray and either go skidding down the hallway or make a noise loud enough to wake the neighbours. With a shake of her head the chameleon deliberately skirted around the obstruction, not even deigning to spare it a glance as she walked to where she needed to go – in fact it was only on the way back, when she actually did roll her eyes down to see what this unpleasant present actually composed of, that she suddenly felt a little guilt pool up in her stomach. No matter how childish Charmy actually was, there was no way anyone could actually dismiss this as not being a major effort on his part.

For a moment the chameleon stayed where she was, blinking stupidly down at the tray and what it contained, a little rumble of discontent in her mind now as she realised that maybe she had been a little too hasty in condemning the other members of her team this time around. She couldn't hear anything else and that meant there was no-one else around; just by existing Charmy and Vector, especially Vector, made enough noise to make the contemplation of silence and solitude impossible. _So, they left this all here for me_; for a brief second she was a little overwhelmed by this, perhaps even grateful, but almost immediately she saw the trap laid out before her, unintentionally set down by her team mates but all the same not one she was going to walk into now she'd seen it. With a deep breath in through her nose, the chameleon about-faced and walked down the stairs towards the kitchen; _though such gestures are important, they are not helping me_; the logic in her head dogged her every step of the way; _comfort is a chimera, a weakening that reduces my ability to live a life on my own. I have endured this monster for too long, living with these Mobians_; her fist clenched, hunger put on hold for a moment as she detoured into the living room and grabbed the pen from the next to the phone, eyes set on the writing pad to the side of it; _and it is not something I'm going to suffer any more – I will get strengthen myself and, like it or not, they will live by my rules from now on, especially when it comes to me_.

XXX

The key in the lock jangled for a moment before with a click it finally forced the breach; with a grateful sigh at being out of the biting wind at last, Vector virtually bolted into the kitchen and wrenched open the tallest cupboard there, virtually squeezing himself inside it in order to be as close to the water heater as he could feasibly manage. The warmth from the squat little heater was a welcome respite from the cold and he luxuriated in it; it was colder out there than he'd thought it was, and it had certainly cooled down since he and Charmy had left their favourite watering hole; _and I hate sprinting at the best of times_; memories of that last run through the air he'd just had to go through in order to get somewhere warm again prickled him uncomfortably, as did the tingling of aching muscles in his calves and lower legs; _running through the cold just to stop collapsing and freezing on the pavement – what a life. Still_; shifting his hands around behind him, the crocodile felt his eyes roll as his chilly extremities closed around one of the hot water pipes protruding from the top of the boiler; _getting back here to you makes it all worth-while_;

"Vector", jerked from his reverie, the crocodile snapped his head around at the shout, just about avoiding bloodying his nose in time to see Charmy looking right at him, a stern if amused smile on his lips, "stop abusing that poor appliance and come over here; boil a kettle if you need to heat your hands up, that things runs our central heating".

"Ah come on, I'm freezin'", the crocodile complained, trying to mount a plea for clemency and, more importantly, string together an argument long enough to let him stay where he was for a few more minutes, "'ave a bitta sympathy buzz-boy – I ain't got yer metabolism". Charmy folded his arms,

"I have got sympathy Vec, for the poor boiler you're violating. And anyway, it's a shame you haven't got my metabolism", he shrugged, turning away to prevent the crocodile seeing the smile blooming all over his face as he made sure he had a clear run at the door, "with all the eating you do it'd be the only way you've got to lose any weight".

_Cheeky git, one of these days I'll clobber him_; having rushed as quickly as he could out of the cupboard Vector knew it wouldn't have been fast enough – he could already hear the beat of Charmy's feet clearing the last couple of stairs even while he was still in the middle of the kitchen. With a disgusted grunt the crocodile shook his head, absent-mindedly patting himself on the belly as he did so; okay so there was a little bit of blubber there but so what? He needed a couple of extra calories every day just in case at some point in the future he had to slip into hibernation, and anyway out of all of them Charmy was the absolutely last one to talk about over-eating; the bee burnt up so much energy with his ridiculously over the top metabolic rate that he was quite literally a Mobian vacuum-cleaner when it came to food and drink, the sweeter and more sugary the better. _Though_; triggered by part of his earlier thought, the crocodile found his eyes drawn back to the cupboard he'd recently vacated; _truth be told this place could do with a bit of a tidy, and it's not Christmas any more so no more excuses like_; mind made up, he lumbered back towards the largest kitchen cupboard and reached inside, luxuriating in the blissful heat that caressed his hand for just a minute longer before he seized what he was looking for and dragged the vacuum-cleaner out into the light. Locating the end of the plug and thumping it home into the nearest plug socket he could find, Vector prodded the on button with his toe and, as the hoover powered up, began heaving the chairs onto the table to make sure he could get a clear run under the table.

The din of the hoover was so much, and he was so engrossed in the task as it gave him a chance to do a little mindless thinking, his mind clear as his body could handle a routine task such as this on autopilot, that he actually didn't realise Charmy had come back downstairs until the bee walked past him. As the insects' stripy abdomen swayed towards the draining board the crocodile tried to speak before remembering what was causing the din that was howling in his ears; kicking the vacuum cleaner into silence with a well-practised aim and waiting for a second for the noise to die down, Vector spoke at the same time as draw himself up to full height, hoping to look intimidating enough to browbeat an apology from the bee to make up for his earlier sharp tongue,

"Well now, 'bout time you made it back", apparently Charmy heard him and began to turn back around, something large held in both his hands, "now, you gonna say sorry fer…"

The rest of the crocodile's sentence was cut short, tailing away into nothingness as Vector suddenly caught sight of two things in almost the same instant; firstly, he saw what was occupying the bee's grip and, working with that information, he was able to work out the reason behind his younger team mate's soul-destroying expression.

XXX

The bee stood where he was, rigid and a mask of supreme unconcern on his face, the effect betrayed only by the twinned pain and anger flashing deep within his suddenly deepened eyes. Even from this distance Vector could tell, instinctively knew, that the bee was having to fight very hard to stop himself either from crying or from hurling the thing held in his hands against the nearest wall; as he looked down again, tearing his gaze away from the haunting look on his friend's face for the simple reason it chilled him worse than the weather could, it took the crocodile a second to work out what it was the bee was holding and, in turn, why it had affected him so badly. A sudden shudder ran through him and Vector suddenly found his fists clenched; rage was flung skywards within him like a cinder cloud from a collapsing fire as he recognised just how much of a slight Charmy had just taken, and he railed against just how cruel Espio had actually been in delivering it.

Charmy was carrying the tray he had prepared to make amends with his team mate earlier this morning, his apology for his vicious jibe the previous evening; he had prepared it carefully, making sure t had everything on it the chameleon was partial to first thing. However, Vector ground his teeth as he saw that between then and now, nothing on that tray had changed save two things – the state of the meal itself and a small slip of paper on the smooth, polished wood of the tray itself, tucked under one of the condiments Charmy had laid out on the side of the tray neatly. The cereal now resembled a kind of hardened cement, the cereal reduced to mush by absorbing all the milk, which had then evaporated away from the brown slurry to leave behind the concrete crust he could see before him, while the previously white cup the green tea had been poured into now had a scummy line of green all around it where most of the liquid had evaporated away to leave a tide mark. The little tea that still swirled around the bottom of the cup was filmed by a thin veneer of skin, and absolutely none of the condiments had been touched save the one that had been picked up to have something placed underneath it. Wordlessly, grinding his teeth with a noise that made it sound like he was chewing on a particularly formidable rock, the crocodile forced his hands to stop quivering with rage, reached forwards and plucked the sheet of paper from its hiding place; with Charmy a silent onlooker, still holding the tray, the crocodile unfurled the message and read it in a silent fury:

_As I said last night, if I want anything I'll get it myself._

XXX

The thin sheet of parchment crumpled in the crocodiles' fist, Vector having to fight as hard if not harder than Charmy was not to erupt at this vile slander of his friends' good intentions. His teeth were clenched so tightly it was a wonder none of them broke, for a long minute the only sound he was able to force from his throat was a sort of high-pitched growling before he was able to loosen his vocal chords a little, the sight of the bee before him still not looking up from the tray helping him to reassert his priorities – much as he'd have liked to scrag Espio up against the nearest wall and bellow his complaints down her ear hole, right here and now Charmy's need for comfort was much more pressing than his need for revenge. Slowly drawing in a deep breath, the crocodile extended his arm, trying to place it on the bees' shoulder,

"Charmy, don' give this no mind, not a second's thought mate", at his words the insect looked up; though his eyes were still glazed, the crocodile saw this as a sign of progress and, thus encouraged, continued, his voice gentler at every step, "it ain't you, it's just tha'…"

He got no further as a sharp edge pressed itself against his stomach; glancing downwards Vector felt a ball of solid misery roll around in his gut as he saw the hardened rim of the tray Charmy was carrying press itself against him, not letting him get any closer. _Damn it no_; the crocodile mentally cursed, his reasons all for the best and making perfect sense to him; _if we don't stick it out together we've got no hope at all_; tearing his eyes upwards again the crocodile tried to speak again, almost ripping his throat apart from the inside by forcing words through it, but to no avail, nothing was falling to him, no inspiration, no leaderly or even brotherly words appeared in his mind. He was a mute passenger, helpless behind his own eyes as he watched on, tormented by the slowness of the motions as he heard the bee give his answer, Charmy's voice that of a stranger, someone older and much more down at heel than the bee had ever been,

"I know it isn't me", the words boomed dully in Vector's ears like shouts from the pit of a bottomless well – he had to concentrate hard to hear them at all, "it, it's just like she said really", Charmy smile, an expression of porcelain, a mask that could shatter at the slightest provocation, "she's still Espio, and Espio would never have accepted anything like this. We just rub shoulders and get on with it – shouldn't be any need to apologise right?" It took a second for Vector to realised the bee was addressing him; the first fractures were beginning to appear in his friends' expression before he managed to kick-start himself back to life and gabble frantically,

"Huh yeah"; _that was close, too bloody close_; his heart was rattling around in his chest as though trying to rip itself free of its moorings – he was certain Charmy would be able to hear his pounding pulse and that would be the trigger for him to finally drop the shaking tray he was carrying and start either raging or crying properly, "same as she's always been – still mis'rable and 'ard ta get on with. Lissen, put tha' tray down an' leave it wimme; my turn ta cook anyhow, then we'd better get ta the shrine".

"But it's my…"

"I know it's yer watch", Vector explained; how he was keeping his voice jovial and light-hearted he didn't know for now his soul was shackled in lead, "bu' I could do wi'some more air; anythin' ta stop 'er upstairs stinkin' the place out any more. 'Sides, ya neva know", the smile he delivered must have been sickly and far too fake for the bee to have even half-believed it but somehow, against all odds, Charmy seemed to take his words at face value for the screaming fit he'd envisaged engulfing the bee never materialised, "might do me a bitta good ta see ya trainin' right – gotta sort out the Christmas pounds somehow ain't I?"

Normally that sort of line would have never gotten away free; to Charmy those were his bread and butter and he lived to take them in, stick a witty retort on them and send them back out again, usually making sure everyone else in the room got a giggle in the process. It was, for Vector at least, a sign of how badly he'd been rattled by this whole business that the only response he received for his ham-fisted attempt at humour was another strange, strained smile and the tray of stale breakfast pushed towards him. Taking it without further comment, the crocodile simply kept up his smiling act, turning on the spot to watch Charmy toddle into the lounge of the Chaotix's shared home and letting his breath whistle free of his lungs only when the last hint of the insects' striped abdomen disappeared around the door jamb. For a moment he was silent, the scene remained as it was before, with the scent of old, dried out cereal flakes suddenly spiralling upwards into his nose, the crocodile found his hands shaking again, the condiments on the tray rattling as he fought to keep the lid on his temper.

If sheer malevolent wishes had been enough to cause someone discomfort the chameleon upstairs wouldn't have sat still for the rest of her natural life such was the fury and disgust Vector's mind levelled at her – as it was, impotent to rectify the situation and helpless in case his actions only added more scars to those already scoured on Charmy's mind, the crocodile was forced to drop this bone of contention unworried. Stomping over to the side of the sink, he carelessly slid the whole entirety of the tray into the washing up bowl and started running water, not seeing what he was doing as all the effort was built up within his head. Plot and counter-plot, myriad scenarios of what this all meant span together inside his mind until trying to fit them all together made his brain ache; as he mechanically watched his hands wash dishes, the core of Vector's very being closed its eyes against the storm battering both it and the inner peace of someone else very close to him and wished, in fact prayed might have been a better adjective, that regardless of the consequences, the Chaotix as he knew it would prove strong enough to steer through the storm regardless, all aboard it still intact at the end.

XXX

Only now, with the same ringing in his ears that had been there a week and a bit ago, and the scenery before him shifting and sliding about in the same manner, did Charmy actually realise just how peaceful a mental state it actually was. Discounting the slight ache that now throbbed away just below his right temple, the bee felt a hazy sort of peace filtering its way down his entire body; though he had absolutely no intentions of moving his arms, or indeed any other part of him, for the foreseeable future, he rationalised that if he just lay back and folded his hands behind his head, he could quite easily have fallen asleep right about now. _In fact_; his eyelids flickered and he had to fight down a sudden yawn; _I might just do – oh, wait a minute_; the slow-motion sub-sonic booming noises that now reached his ears now had a source he could easily recognise, blotting out the light above him as it was – wearily, the bee began to heave himself upwards, forcing himself through the twin barriers of pain and sudden fatigue as his teacher for the day stood back a little. As Charmy slowly came to his full height and shook his head, he blinked back the last of his eye-watering tears just in time to look over at where Knuckles was standing, head cocked slightly to one side, his lips pursed as though sizing something up; _and I reckon I know what it is too_;

"Hmm", the echidna mused after a short pause, "you really should have blocked that Charm". The bee nodded, gingerly prodding the side of his head where the echidna's fist had come close to rattling his brain through his other ear,

"I know, I've been training with your missus too much", he gave a slightly sore smile as he finished his inspection; _might be a bit of a bruise there then_; before dropping his arm and shrugging, a weary smile on his lips, "gotta hold my guard low against her or she'll cave my ribs in, gotta hold it high against you or you'll reduce my skull by a dimension".

"Something like that", the echidna replied in the same tone of voice; Charmy bristled, instinctively knowing that the echidna had seen through his attempt at brevity at least partially – now it was up to him to shut down the echidna's attempted foray into uncharted and unwelcomed territory, "but even so, you should have got something in the way. You're not fighting at a hundred percent, I can tell that and", even before the bee could begin his protestations the guardian raised a hand, "I can tell why – you're worried about Esp aren't you?"

_Okay, that's survivable_; actually the hardest struggle was keeping the relief that the echidna had given him such an easy ride off his face – had Knuckles been as suave as his wife, or as naturally maternal as his mother for that matter, Charmy was under no illusion he'd have been in hotter water than he was now. As it was, this was one scenario he could quite easily breeze through, not least for the fact it was entirely true,

"Yeah, I'd be lying if I said it wasn't pressing on me – typical when you think about it isn't it?" Knuckles looked over again and the bee gave a chuckle, once more reminding himself that, as far as anyone save the three Mobians currently holding the Chaotix fort knew, the chameleon was both ill and male, "even when he's not here, Esp's still throwing spanners in the works". The echidna returned his younger pupil's gruff chuckle, waving at him to take a seat and easing the extra padding off his gloves at the same time; _just as well, I think I lost my appetite for a fight right about now_;

"True, very true; take a seat mate, no point doing any more if you're not at the races", Knuckles waved at the steps that led up to the actual altar where the Master Emerald now rested, the great green jewel still and, now there were no Chaos Emeralds within the shrine itself since Shadow had misplaced the yellow one following his foray into the heart of Necronopolis itself, the sole source of illumination for the shrine itself, bathing the walls and floor with a pastel green radiance. Grateful for the rest, the bee settled down on the second-from-bottom step as Knuckles leant against one of the seven pillars that should have held the Mater Emerald's wayward children, the seven Chaos Emeralds. There were a few second's silence, both Mobians apparently trying to think of something to break the awkward silence that had infiltrated the shrine before, after clearing his throat and wincing as the noise echoed off the walls like a gunshot, Knuckles glanced over, his expression surprisingly soft,

"How is he, anyway?"

XXX

It was that question, always that question; every single time he was asked, something huge, something he couldn't identify, a whole mixture of emotions that seemed to compromise everything from spiteful glee at revealing the chameleon's plight to a sickening ache in the bottom of his whole heart that telling the secret would expunge, strained at the iron leash he'd thrown around its neck. In the second he had to think before he could answer, thousands of reasons flowed through the bee's mind; reasons for telling the truth were shot down by certainties of what would happen if the truth were known while predictions of reactions to learning that he had spoken of this private matter to someone outside the Chaotix, varying across the whole spectrum from unstoppable hysteria to psychopathic rage, clashed together in his mind. His brain became a seething, bubbling soup of emotions and thoughts that he couldn't have even begun to sort out even if he'd lived to the ages some of Knuckles' grandfathers had reached, yet somehow some part of himself still rose above the maelstrom and, picking out specific words here and there, basic ones as there was no need to complicate the matter further, answered the questions with simple, sanguine logic,

"About as good as we expected", even as he slammed a lid down on the cooking cauldron of everything else in the back of his mind, Charmy was grateful that his muddle was apparently able to give his face the perfect expression of rueful concern, "a long way from perfect but, overall, reckon he might just be coming to the end of the worst of it. How's your mum?"

He'd done it, he'd said the magic words; as the echidna's eyes glazed over reminiscent Charmy was able to hitch a free ride away from his own worries for a time; instead of forever fretting over the state of a Mobian he'd barely even glimpsed for the better part of a week and a half, entombed within her new room as Espio was, here he could listen and drink deep of a different life; no concern here, no worries about what was going on and, most of all, no pressure to have to act like everything else was perfectly normal; _because, smiling like I am_; even as Knuckles started to speak, the bee realised that somehow he was now smiling despite the dimness that had been in his mind a few seconds ago; _that's the most natural thing in the world when you're talking about something as good as this_;

"She's fine; huge but fine", the guardian chuckled, seeing his step-father have to offer his wife a hand as Lara tried to heave herself out of her chair again, the weight of her unborn egg pressing her down into the soft material at her back, "tell you what through Charm, he's going to be a bit of a whopper when he finally pops out, and that's her words, not mine".

"Really? Well if I remember rightly", the bee replied while glancing over as Knuckles braced himself; _must have said something stupid there – oh well, better just get this over with_; "she was saying the same sort of things last time she was in the family way; something about a king-sized bowling ball to be precise, unless I'm very much mistaken".

"Which you're not", the echidna shook his head, stretching upwards as he did so, a little tired for a reason he couldn't quite fathom – more to disguise his sudden apathy than anything else, Knuckles reminded himself of something else that was going on soon that he, not to mention the rest of hi family, was looking forwards to, "oh, while I remember though, got a couple of visitors arriving sometime soon if you're interested. How's Vector's battery stock doing after the battering it took as Christmas?"

_Batteries?_; true they'd used a lot over the holiday period but Charmy was baffled if he could think of a reason why Knuckles would bring that up here and…;_ ah, now it makes sense_;

"I'll ask him when I get home; what time are we expecting him to touch down?" _Why'd he look like that?_; Charmy found himself slightly confused for a minute as he took in the sidelong glance Knuckles had cast his way – why would the echidna be looking at him with suspicion just because Tails was due to visit?

"Them, we're expecting them sometime Saturday, never exactly sure when but I should thing it'd be late morning-ish"; _is he bringing Cream with him – yeah, that must be it, but how was I supposed to know that?_; still not entirely convinced that the echidna and he were on the right page, the bee nevertheless held his peace for the moment, deciding he'd deal with it later once he could double-check his facts and figures and, more importantly, get his own emotions back under control. For now though, the bee decided that agreeing would be the best option for all concerned,

"Oh that so; well, I'll ask Vec if there's anything we need and we'll pass it on come the weekend".

"Fair enough", there was still a lingering trace of unease in the guardian's answer, Charmy could sense that as though he were psychic, but he seemed happy enough to be getting on with despite the fact that the acute silence was beginning to lengthen again. Not wanting to let it stretch too far, the bee searched back for inspiration and almost immediately it came to him,

"Speaking of reminders Knucks, bumped into one of your old buddies last week"; _buddies?_; now that was surprising – as far as Knuckles was concerned he didn't really have many friends on Angel Island outside his own family and the Chaotix, however the bee's next words made hi realised that his immediate conclusions had been quite wrong on this occasion, "yeah, ran into Teri over at the Fy Café; he made it into the cadets you know?"

"No, I didn't know", Knuckles gave a snicker as he remembered that time from what seemed like a previous life.

Teri had been the first member of his species he'd ever seen, the youngster up in the branches of a tree, harvesting hickory nuts and entirely unaware of the presence of both the guardian and the bat behind him, watching on with something like wonder as they finally realised what the enlargement of Angel Island truly meant, for Knuckles especially. Since that day and the very busy and hectic crash-course for the guardian in city living that had culminated in his mother finally finding him once again that had compromised most of it, both he and Rouge had kept in sporadic contact with the younger echidna, though since he'd entered his final year of schooling and begun his attempts to join up with the EST it had been a more difficult proposition. The news that he'd managed to overcome the first of the hurdles in his path was the best news Knuckles had heard in a long time, if not quite good enough to pierce the storm clouds that were gathering overhead as the weekend approached far too rapidly for his liking.

"Well, bloody good luck to him; tell him congrats from Rouge and I if you get the chance", Charmy nodded his assent before there was a sudden bipping noise from somewhere, the electronic pulse piercing and loud in the still air of the shrine. At the noise Charmy brightened a little on the outside at the same time as feel as shadow of despair settle over his mood; with his shift over, he could simultaneous do the thing he was both desperate and dreading to do – he could go back to the Chaotix's home, away from prying eyes but at the same time caged indoors with a problem that refused to even come into the open and let itself be solved. He wasn't sure if he'd rather stay where he was or go and therefore decided to let someone else make his mind up for him,

"Alright Knucks, want me to stick around for a bit? Anything you need doing around the place?" Again he was struck down with ambivalence as the echidna shook his head,

"Nah, nothing that can't wait until next week. In fact scratch that", he corrected himself almost immediately, the thought occurring to him almost reflexively, "it'll have to wait until next week; can't do it if Vec's still feeling the cold. Get yourself off home mate, have a bit of a lie down and check on Esp for us – the sooner all this blows over the happier I'll be for one", he gave a laugh that Charmy, standing up as he was, didn't respond to, "come on, even Rouge is starting to get worried about him and that means it's got to be serious". _If only you knew how serious it was_; once more the bee had to clamp down on a sudden desire to spill the beans, instead merely nodding while rolling his eyes, not quite trusting himself to speak just yet as he headed towards the transporter that would deliver him home. Waving over his shoulder, the youngest of the Chaotix disappeared down the tunnel of the shrine and, a short while later, the characteristic zipping noise of his father's creation told Knuckles that the bee was gone.

_Man, must be eating him as bad as Rouge was making out_; the echidna had refused to believe that Charmy was as down as his wife had told him until he'd seen it with his own eyes – now that he had seen it, however, he found himself wishing he'd taken Rouge's word for it. A depressed Charmy just didn't seem in any way right; that was like having Sonic acting like a complete gentleMobian whenever he and Rouge were within a fifty-mile radius of the blue hedgehog's position, or Cream dressing up as a goth – it was an eddy in the tide of reality that Knuckles only hoped would ease itself out relatively soon. _Still_; relaxing on the shrine floor again, the guardian glanced up at the Master Emerald and felt a little more at ease, the giant jewel a welcome rock of stability in uncertain times; _come the weekend it'll all be fine, assuming Charm can remember what's supposed to be happening that is, unless he was making that whole clueless look up_; that was one thing that really jarred with Knuckles, he could never tell if people were winding him up or not – even as the thought occurred to him though, he found himself suddenly shuddering; _winding up, I can dream. Going on what happened to Vec just before Christmas, come Sunday I may well be winding up either dead or wishing I was!_

XXX

It was warmer than it had been these past few days; Vector managed to deduce that much before heaving himself out of bed and giving himself a brief shake-down, already trying to work out where that first shot of life-giving coffee was supposed to come from this early in the morning. With a yawn that seemed to almost rip the wallpaper off the bedroom wall the crocodile stretched up, wincing as his back and tail popped away merrily under such duress so soon after getting up; _no time for that now though, can't be that long until it's work time_. The worry that he might have overslept helped him to wake up properly; with a jolt of alarm the crocodile whipped around to see the alarm clock by his bed, a whistle of low relief seeping between his teeth a second later as the scuffed old timepiece showed that he still had a good hour or so to get himself ready – it was about quarter past ten, he wasn't due on until twelve but he'd decided last night he'd want to be there by half-eleven latest as, truth be told, he'd been tardy before now on a couple of occasions. Nothing serious, no more than fifteen minutes at the very, very latest, but even so Vector had his professional pride; much as it might not have looked like it to a casual observer, worst come to worst the crocodile was usually the first one into the breach if something was going down – it just wasn't in him to let people down, least of all people that were paying the food bill for both himself and the rest of the Chaotix.

Pulling on his trainers, Vector out of habit more than anything else crossed over the room and absent-mindedly pulled Charmy's bedcovers back into something that might have counted as being close to tidy, making yet another mental note to give his new room mate a piece of his mind later on. Though he freely admitted he was the last person in the world to harp on about cleanliness being next to godliness, Vector was very keen on having a tidy bedroom – no clutter where you crash out, as his mother had told him once or twice before. As he punched the bee's pillows again, helping drive some air into them to fluff them up somewhat, the crocodile found himself thinking back a little bit and, if anything, suddenly regretful; out of all the things he could recall about it, this had never been a problem when he and Espio had been bunking together. _Espio…_;

Letting the pillow in his hand fall to the bed again the crocodile turned and glared through the nearest wall as concern and not a little anger swirled together and pooled up in his stomach. His gaze was directed through the wall at where the chameleon had been holed up almost entirely since the three of them had come together and thrashed out a deal over the kitchen table, her new room her bolthole from the outside world while she regathered her wits, her two friends covering for her absence under the guise of illness. Altogether he reckoned he'd have been calling it generous if he and Charmy combined had seen their sometime conniving team mate for longer than fifteen minutes since then, and if they'd exchanged more than half-a-dozen words with her he'd have been amazed. Vector wanted nothing more than to go into that room, bellow out all the frustration and fear he felt right down Espio's throat and then drag her into the light of day, kicking and screaming if need be, to show her that look, the world hadn't stopped turning, there'd been no second sunrises or balls of fire falling from the heavens – life had carried on since her secret had been revealed, so she had better just buck up her ideas and start playing catch-up before she got left behind completely.

He'd do no such thing of course, and not just because he was afraid that one-on-one the chameleon might actually be able to beat him with some of the weaponry she had at her disposal; no, he was more worried about what such a forthright approach might have had on her mental state, already dour at the best of times – he wasn't going to risk jeopardising the whole of the Chaotix completely just because he was feeling a little under the cosh and, closer to home as well, he himself didn't want to press the chameleon at all. Since Charmy had inadvertently confirmed at least a few of his earlier suspicions, the crocodile had been seeing the chameleon in a slightly different light it was true – somehow the thought of just busting into her private sanctuary and kicking her tail into gear, and the thought that such a course of action might well reduce her to tears and fighting screams of rage, was something he didn't want to have to deal will. _But still_; a wry smile on his lips, he envisioned himself bodily dragging the chameleon into her new life by her tail as she clung onto the doorframe, the inherent comedy in such a scene making him smirk a little even now; _it's such a good illusion – even if it'll never happen, I can dream can't I?_

He certainly could; in fact he only stopped dreaming when he found himself going downstairs and with one foot over the threshold of the lounge. Checking the time again, the crocodile quickly vaulted into his favourite chair and, as he sank down into its comforting embrace, snagged the remote control from where it was resting close at hand. Aiming quickly and watching the screen spark into life, he quickly zipped through the channels to find what he was after and, at the sight of a rather severe-looking echidna sat behind a desk hove into view, he realised he'd found what he was looking for; though not a news junkie by any stretch of the imagination, Vector liked to keep in touch with what was going on in the wider world. Realising he was just at the start of the bulletin, the head of the Chaotix leant back and stretched out fully, deciding against eating for the minute until he'd had his daily news fix. Finishing his impromptu stretching regime with another huge yawn, the crocodile blinked again and looked back at the screen, quickly taking everything in; _ouch, looks like a nasty one that, should blow over quickly though – oh, that reporter's got a nice body on her though, she can check up on me any…_; unfortunately at that point, the crocodile never finished that ungentlemanly thought as his eyes flicked over the small, red box in the top right corner of the screen, a red alert suddenly flooded out over his brain and, triggered by the memory the date shown there had thrown into stark relief, all thoughts of standing still were blown clear out of his skull.

A second later, following a split-second of checking with the calendar to find to his horror that his first presumptions had been correct, the home of the Chaotix echoed with a bellowed expletive, there was a rushed hurrying of feet, a jangle of keys being snatched from their hook and a sudden slam as Vector did some frantic mental arithmetic and realised just how bad the omens were looking for him.

XXX

Halfway around his favourite comic store, Charmy instinctively reached down to quieten his buzzing mobile phone; holding the vibrating appliance up to his ear, the bee hit to answer the call,

"Hel…?"

"Charmy"; _oww!_; wrenching the phone away, the bee rubbed his sore ear as the crocodile continued to shout down the line to him, his panicked voice clearly audible to all and sundry, "you've gotta get 'ome, cover me shift, I gotta get a move on 'cause we're already late as it is!" Finally daring to answer, Charmy held the phone a respectable distance from the side of his face before calling back,

"Late? What you for…?"

"It's the eighth today", once again the crocodile cut him off and, beginning to feel his temper rise at this, the bee injected a little force back into his tone this time around,

"So? What's that got to do with anything?"

"The eighth", the crocodile repeated; there was a sudden click from the other end of the line that the bee couldn't place before he heard his team mate again, this time with the characteristic rumble of an engine powering up in the background for company, "I've got about twenny minutes to get frum 'ere t'the Tornado pad"; _Tornado pad, why's he seeing…_; the blood drained from the bee's face as suddenly he recalled what Knuckles had mentioned just a few scant days ago, the sense it now made. Just in case though, before he could think of anything to say or do, Vector spelt it out for him in plain English,

"Mighty's 'ome today!"

A split-second later, there was a cursed expletive from inside an Echidnopolis comic shop, a sound of beating feet and the tinkle of the shop bell as a Mobian with somewhere to go and not a lot of time to get there raced away down the road.

A/N: Oh dear, slack time-keeping lands you in all sorts of trouble at the worst opportunities doesn't it? Still, Mighty's back on Angel Island, so what happens now? How can the others break it to her what happened in her absence, and will she be able to reconcile it? And will a certain smarmy guardian pay for his earlier crimes – of course he will! Run Knuckles, run!


	5. Chapter 5 Best Served Cold

Chapter 5 – Best Served Cold

Chapter 5 – Best Served Cold.

A/N: Apologies for the lateness of this chapter but, unfortunately, I've been hors de combat for some time with an ear infection that destroyed both my sense of balance and my ability to use a keyboard. Still, it's definitely not all bad; I log back onto the site and what's this I see; eight reviewers!

BC – Tails will be along in the next chapter and, more importantly, some members of the Chaotix will get the chance to let some of their bottled feelings out. See you there.

SM – How will they break this to Mighty? Preferably from a long way away with a good head start I should hope. But at least some of the Chaotix are facing up to problems, can they make Espio do the same?

TH – Poor Esp?! What about all the people she's making life miserable for!

Ri2 – You've hit the nail on the head; right now Espio is being very heartless. But can they keep this a secret from the armadillo? Would they even want to?

Artemis – Yep, poor old Charmy seems to be getting a lot of flak right now, but it'll all be better in the end right? Right...

Rowan – With Mighty around, do you trust Knuckles not to get what he deserves after the trick he pulled in the story before this one? One very devious and painful revenge scheme coming right up!

Willow – Yes, Espio seems to have the personality of an axle grinder at the minute, but can the others keep up their acts, or will it all tumble like a house of cards. And what will happen to the Chaotix if it does all fall down – with Esp the way she is, would she come out of it sane, or even alive? Decisions, decisions...authors get all the fun :-).

Wolf – Now I know I'm doing this right; if people are longing for the return of the old, misanthropic Espio, it must mean this new stage she's in must be as loathsome and rotten as I ever planned to write it.

According to some people, the entire population of the world could be split into two distinct groups; those who are naturally optimistic, and those who are naturally pessimistic. Optimists, the reasoning goes, see the bright side of life at all times, try to be upbeat and happy no matter how downbeat the situations and, most relevant to the current scenario playing out on a little-known if well-used corner in the wilds of Angel Island, trust their friends to come through on agreements they make. On the other side of the scales pessimists tend to hold generally depressing views of life in general, only seem to be happy when their gloomy predicts are proved to be correct and most of the time sneer that relying on other people for anything is usually a triumph of hope over experience in the grand scheme of things.

Mighty Armadillo, if anyone had ever asked her, would have classed herself as an optimist every time but right here and now, as she checked her watch for the umpteenth time and found herself kicking the turf by her feet in annoyance, she found herself wondering if this time she'd been pushing her hope just a little bit too far in expecting anyone else in the Chaotix to remember the date of her arrival and, more importantly, their agreement to give her a lift home to unpack.

_Where the hell are they?_; it was a question she'd asked herself already a hundred times, along with the other current favourite of why hadn't she taken up Tails' offer of a lift in the Tornado's jeep mode; _it's been nearly thirty minutes already – they can't have forgotten, they just can't have_. Her legs gave way underneath her as with a huff she flopped down on top of her suitcase, chin resting on one fist as a sea of misanthropic ideas churned around in her mind. The armadillo felt her eyes drawn towards her wristwatch almost magnetically and shook her head again as she saw the hands of time ticking away minutes of her life; if she had accepted the fox's offer of a lift she calculated she'd probably have been on the outskirts of the city by now, even with her extra baggage and Cream weighing the sturdy little transmogrifying vehicle down more than usual; _and wouldn't that beat sitting around here and watching the world go by? Come on you lot, I don't usually ask for a lot – well_; she had to correct herself there, angry scowl replaced with a disingenuous pursing of her lips;_ at least I won't after I get home – gotta start earning back all the flexi-time I took off to go on a merry jaunt over the holidays. Still_; the toxic sea of annoyance at her flatmates in her mind drained away utterly, subsumed by another, greater ocean of wholly different emotions being poured into the top of it and drowning all her current worries with memories of what had recently been; _it was more than worth it, even if dad's still the obnoxious pain in the neck he's always been._

That much at least was perfectly true; while her mother and the rest of her extended family had done their level best, more or less, to make the guest she had brought with her at ease within the rowdy riot that passed as her extended family, her father Stefan seemed to have made it his personal mission to try and drive Big away. Even now, despite her repeated apologies for his behaviour and the great cat's continually reassuring acceptance of such apologies, the memories of the grey-shelled armadillo mistreating her gentle giant of a boyfriend made her blood boil – only Big's reluctant admission that he'd finally given in to temptation and dropped the arrogant snob with a single punch had stopped Mighty cornering her dad and doing it herself. _Still, I'm pretty sure he knows where he can go now as far as we're concerned, and even if we couldn't teach him_; once more the armadillo reclined slightly, seeing her mothers' face harden as she had heard the truth recounted from her daughters' lips when Stefan had been otherwise engaged, hearing about how brazenly ungracious her husband had been to a guest of her family; _Emily'll sort him out from here on in. Go for it mum_; wishing her all the luck in the world in trying to somehow chip through the piece of flint her fathers' heart had become, Mighty spared her parents no further thought as something else loomed up large in her memory banks, a welcoming presence that eclipsed even the memories of reuniting with her family emotionally as well as physically. _Big…_;

XXX

As it always did time seemed to drift away in importance as her memory fell upon the Mobian she'd said goodbye to only that morning; to anyone viewing her it would have appeared that the armadillo had sunk into a kind of trance, so still and silent did she suddenly go. With a smile on her lips and her eyes completely lost in the mists of her memory, Mighty was transported away to Scotland once more, the beating ancestral heart of her family as they came from all over the globe to celebrate the season of goodwill. She had joined this annual pilgrimage as was the tradition; _only this time_; the smile on her vapid expression only grew wider as a large purple someone stepped forth from her mnemonic portraits of those she counted as friends and family; _I didn't go alone – Big made sure of that on his own and, even if he hadn't, I'm pretty sure his parents would have.. What was it he said – 'nothing was stopping me saying no if you don't count the shotgun dad was pointing at me under the table' – something like that_; the assurance that she'd fallen well and truly on her feet as far as her boyfriend's family was concerned was a perfect cherry on the top of her Christmas cake, twinned by an equally perfect fruit as she knew, just _knew_, that he'd gone down equally as well north of the border. It had been the same rowdy yet respectful sort of party she'd always remembered it being; the little ones were boisterous and noisy within limits, the adults supposedly slightly more controlled and the guests, Big amongst them, were treated with utmost respect by virtually everyone; _and didn't he pay them back well?_ A chuckle broke on her lips even if her thousand-yard stare never altered – once more she could see the cards flip over and over on the table before her, each one landing a second after it had been named, perfectly, by her partners' solemn incantations.

By dint of his perfect memory the cat had memorised a shuffled deck of cards and, as her cousin had dealt them face-up, had named each and every one of them. The impact on the table had been immense and had, in Mighty's opinion, permanently cemented the cat's legend on the rich tapestry of the Highland Steppes' history; unfortunately beyond that point, her memory of Christmas Eve was somewhat hazy. She remembered little save feeling so incredibly drained by a long night and even longer morning of almost continual card playing that the first few lines of a simple song had sent her spiralling headlong into slumber, but the first memory she'd gained upon waking on Christmas morning more than made up for her blank space. Shivering despite the relative warmth of the coat around her shoulders, the armadillo recalled with a thrill that ran the length of her spine how terrified she'd first been at realising she hadn't been alone in her hotel room, then the relief that had swept through her as she'd logically deduced the innocent reasons behind Big sharing her bed for one night – he'd simply carried her sleeping body to her room and then passed out from exhaustion next to her. Even this relief, however, had given way to something else in the end; it had been a strange sort of emotion, an odd feeling of not actually caring what anyone else who found out might have thought about the whole scenario; as far as she'd been concerned they could have drawn all the conclusions they liked and she wouldn't have cared a button for any of them. Wrapping her partners arm around her shoulder before falling into sleep beside him again…Mighty shuddered again at the memory; _as far as I'm concerned nothing, absolutely nothing, gets better than that, unless it's the knowledge that we got away with it!_

And they had; after they'd both eventually woken up and worked out what had happened, Big had somehow managed to duck outside and, how he'd kept a straight face she had no idea, she'd been in stitches from pretty much the outset of the whole scheme, knocked on her bedroom door as though meaning to rouse her. She'd instinctively come out and joined him going downstairs to the mayhem that was the main dining hall of the Highland Steppes hotel, currently a frenzied whirlwind of discarded wrapping paper, haphazardly stacked presents and paper-shredding armadillos; having quickly tracked down her cousin Derek and informed him in no uncertain terms that if he so much as breathed the edge of a word to anyone that Big hadn't slept in his own bed Christmas Eve night she'd ensure he got the etching on the back of his shell finished off the hard way, all had been well. In fact it had been better than well as, amazingly, it seemed that something like the Christmas spirit had infiltrated her father's normally iron mask of rigid indifference to anything and anyone – he'd even gone so far as to pour the cat a glass of wine at the traditional Christmas dinner the family had taken part in that evening, the one semi-solemn event of the whole festive period as far as she and her family went. _Must have meant something went down between them at the loch – apart from Big's fist down dad's throat_; the thought gave her another gruff laugh before she sighed – yes the cat had admitted to smacking her father after he'd had the nerve try and warn the pair of them off each other, but on the other hand she didn't blame him in the slightest; _if anything he saved me a job there. Anyway, enough of this_; not wanting to get dragged into the singular black spot of her entire holiday, the armadillo sought to focus her mind on everything else; _let's focus on what's important here_; and as the profile of the looming, loving cat she'd left behind in Mystic Ruins shone in her minds' eye again, Mighty felt herself smiling again; _yeah, and that'll do just nicely…_

XXX

She was so well lost in her memories that it was only the sound of a hover-van pulling up, rather than the rumbling of its engine approaching, that made her glance up; as the battered old bumper before her hove into view she gave a somewhat irked chortle and stood up, dragging the bag she'd been sat on up to her hip at the same time as call forwards,

"And what time do you call this then?" Popping open his door in order to open the back of the van, Vector froze on the spot and shot back,

"We're runnin' a wee bit late; tha's norra crime is it?" Mighty shook her head,

"There's late and there's late Vector; when I said about half-eleven or twelve o'clock I meant in the morning".

"Well I'm 'ere now", the crocodile pointed out, standing to the side as his team mate joined him at the back of the van and threw her bag in haphazardly, his experienced eye immediately pointing out that said bag seemed to have swollen in size compared to when it had left; _hope she got a load of good presents, preferably ones that can be shared with her starving flat mates_; "so, 'op in an' let's get ourselves gone. I take it the other two 'ave left already?" Mighty glanced up disgustedly, folding her arms in a huff,

"Oh yes, they left around, oh I don't know, say an hour ago if you're being generous. They even offered me a lift believe it or not – now why didn't I say yes?" She tapped the side of her face with a finger, the tip of said digit making a quiet thocking noise as it hit the edge of her shell before her face suddenly brightened in enlightenment, "Oh yes, that was why – because I was certain my team mates, who I work with and even live with so well, would be sure to remind themselves that they were supposed to pick me up from the landing pad. I mean surely that wasn't asking too much was it – well I think we all know…"

"Shurrup", the whining had reached a fever pitch in his mind by now and Vector had to make it end; placing his hands on his hips the reptile glared down, "lissen, we're 'ad a coupla problems over the 'oliday an' a coupla things got lost in the post as it were, so no need to go all 'igh and mighty on us. Come on, put yersel' in our shoes; if you'd 'ave 'ad ta come get us we'd be quicker walkin' 'ome wi'yer sense o' direction bein' what it is".

"Well in the case you've got no excuse", the armadillo snapped back sharply, "your sense of direction's fine and you're still an hour behind schedule. Who is it always says time is money; well you're certainly running short on it now – Vector's taxis, don't let them keep the meter running or you'll need a second mortgage to pay off the fare".

Vector said nothing at this, didn't even dignify it with a reply, merely glared down at where the armadillo squinted up at him murderously; the break happened simultaneously, both Mobians dropping their arms and giving way to laughter, shaking heads at the ridiculousness of it all. Mighty took a step forwards, Vector not resisting as he felt her arms slide around the mid-point of his chest, lowering the side of his jaws to a level where Mighty could give him a quick peck on the cheek in greeting; he didn't respond in kind as it wasn't something he could very well safely do with his sort of teeth. Instead he hooked his arms under hers and braced himself – Mighty gave a slight yelp of shock and excitement as she felt herself lifted clean off the floor for a minute before the crocodile lowered her back down, happy to see her as she was to see him again,

"Good ta 'ave ya back Might"; _more than you know, it's good_; he hastily crushed thoughts such as those – though the armadillo had to know the parlous state of the team she was a member of, Vector was certain now wasn't the time to tell her, not so soon after her first touching down and Angel Island again, "'ow's the rest o'yer crew, an' did Big get a good reception up in man-skirt land?" A mock-scowl on her face, Mighty tapped his gut sharply as she stepped away, not liking him taking the mick out of the traditional dress of her ancestral homeland,

"Don't say that, especially knowing where you were brought up; what's traditional in the swamp these days, a mud-pack and few grass skirts? Anyway, Big went down an absolute storm, come on", slightly more aware of the nipping wind chasing around them, the armadillo jerked her head towards the van, hoping to get inside where it was warmer as Vector always had the internal heating on about as high as it could go, "let's get inside and I'll tell you all about it".

"Suits me dame", slamming the back doors of the van Vector waited until she'd disappeared towards the passenger seats before slumping a little, the dire irony of what he would be forced to say as well on this journey back pressing on his mind as he repeated himself in a dull whisper, "suits me". Slamming his fist softly into the metal of the vans' rear doors, the crocodile mentally issued a black curse on the evil topics he would have to broach today before pulling himself together, standing up tall and slowly trudging his way back towards the drivers door of Chaotixs' transport.

XXX

The keys in the ignition jangled before, with a dull roar, the engine sparked into life; disengaging the handbrake, Vector pulled off smoothly just as Mighty finished belting herself in properly, wriggling around in her seat like a toddler on a sugar high for a minute, obviously full to bursting with good news that, after a minute of checking he was going on the right way, Vector duly allowed her to vent off,

"So then", as much as her shell would let her, the armadillo twisted her head sideways, glee evident on her face, "I know ya desperate, so tell me all 'bout it". _That was worth it_; as his team mate's face seemed to crackle with sheer positivity the crocodile felt some of his own unease drain away at least temporarily; for now, he could listen to the armadillo's tale-telling and have no worries of his own, for it was impossible to worry hearing of an adventure such as this,

"Oh where to start", Mighty questioned herself, the question thankfully rhetorical as far as the crocodile was concerned, "well first off Big and the rest of his pride are fine, we left them day before yesterday and they're all over the moon that we had a good time. Even Tia's managed to kick her nerve problem for now, so everyone there's in the blush of health, and Big", she chuckled, shaking her head as Vector cast a sidelong look her way, "well, what can you really say about Big?"

"He knows 'ow ta swing tha' fishin' pole of 'is? Come on", as a nonplussed expression crossed Mighty's features the leader of the Chaotix cracked into a bit of a grin, "you know the past we've got when it comes ta Team Rose". Suddenly understanding the reminder, the armadillo laughed,

"Yeah, I remember now; well if you will go around picking on little girls you should expect to get your tails kicked", she said with a reproving look that sent Vector into a scowl, though thankfully that expression was banished as she smiled again, "though truth be told he was swinging someone else's rod up north; got on with my uncle Reuben like a house on fire – he's a mad keen fisherMobian too. Mind you, he got on well with everyone else as well, not that I was really expecting anything else".

"An' ya think we were", Vector exclaimed, the shaking of his head almost making his lips brush the top of the steering wheel, "come on, no' met a Mobian yet who the Big guy couldn' get on with".

"Even Esp?" Thankfully the armadillo was looking out of the window as she delivered that throwaway line; she never saw Vector shudder as though impaled by a spear as the name struck deep within him, the dread only deepening as she turned towards him, not understanding the consequences of her naming the one Mobian he'd been trying to place furthest from his thoughts for as long as possible, "Anyway, I'll spill my beans when everyone's around; wait until we've got home and Charm, should be him right, gets back from watching the M.E. and then I'll let everyone know exactly what went on. Apart from that though, your turn now".

"Eh?" He knew what she meant but still tried to postpone the execution hour as much as he could, "whaddya mean?" She gave a gentle shove, expression slightly disproving of his deliberately playing dumb,

"Don't stretch it out you; give me all the gossip. What happened with you guys over the New Year, oh and did Charm like his present? I was hoping we got the right one for…Vec", seeing the crocodile's head droop, the armadillo looked over a little alarmed, "you all right over there?"

XXX

The idea that something wasn't quite right about this whole scenario was just starting to trickle down through the armadillo's thoughts when Vector sat back up; the second she saw his expression, as far as she was concerned her suspicions were suddenly, and horribly, confirmed. The dead hand of unease was stroking down her backbone as she felt the van begin to slow down, the crocodile obviously stopping for some reason; almost despite herself she found one of her hands feeling for the door release behind her as she twisted to face her team mate full on, not at all liking the sudden, frightening lurch this journey had just taken. Still, she remained quiet for the moment, trusting the crocodile enough to let him start the talking rather than simply demand an explanation for his erratic behaviour; for his part, Vector seemed to sag at the wheel for a minute, his eyes half closed before with an effort even she could see plainly dredged up from deep within he sat up again – turning in his seat to face her head on, the crocodile spoke softly, his quiet tone and obviously pain-wracked voice making Mighty's hair almost stand on end for never before had she heard the crocodile so lamentable,

"I won' lie to ya Might, we didn't 'ave a good 'oliday in any way, shape or form; no' your fault", he'd seen her about to speak from the corner of his eye and squelched the motion; he needed to say this now, all of it, and he couldn't broach any interruptions as he did so, "nuthin' you coulda done anythin' about. Anyway, fact o' the matter is babe, a lotta stuff's 'ad ta change at 'ome an' I gotta be the one ta tell ya". He broke off for a moment, frantically scrabbling deep within himself to find some more resolve, enough to force the words he didn't want to speak from his lips for he knew that they, and more importantly their deeper significance, would instantly wreck the sweet chariot of excellent mood he could plainly see was carrying the armadillo home. But he had to tell her, there was no way he could put this off and he certainly wasn't going to delegate the responsibility to Charmy; adult or otherwise, the bee was still too young and inexperienced to understand what was truly at stake here,

"So", a voice from the side of him almost made him open the sunroof with his head, Mighty making a brave stab at conversation to try and usurp the threatening silence that had loomed since the crocodile had fallen silent, "what happened then, I mean", she hastily corrected herself; that was the last thing she wanted to hear right now, "I take it whatever's gone on isn't completely unsalvageable".

"No, no' completely", it was a ray of sunlight, weak, feeble and stuttering certainly, but still a much-needed source of light in the darkness that had gathered over the Chaotix since the fateful night nearly two weeks ago, "bu' it's norra pleasant thing ta deal wi'"; _stop beating around the bush_; the crocodile knew what he was doing and inwardly cursed his chicken-heartedness; _just out and say it – Might's an adult, she can handle it_; "fact o' the matter is I'm bunkin' wi'Charmy now, you an Esp 'ave got rooms to yerselves".

"That's it", there were a few seconds of silence before the armadillo shattered it with a question that bordered on the hysterical; the grin on her face was massive as she swatted Vector's nearest arm, "you teasing git – no fair when I've not been back on the Island for…"

"No Michelle"; the name stopped her dead, smile vanished and mouth agape – Vector in all the time she'd known him had never addressed her by her real name, he'd always used the title she'd preferred, and even more than that she was certain he'd never looked so serious as he did now, facing her again, "the reason Charm and I are shacked up t'gether's the same one you an' I don't share a room". _What?_; that made no sense but Mighty's mind was in such a muddle that she couldn't even argue – instead she simply stared blankly forwards, seeing Vector screw his eyes shut and take a deep breath; when he looked at her once more she was still lost, completely unable to avoid his next statement as it crashed down upon her with the force of an ocean tide,

"When you were gone, on Christmas night in fact, Esp went through 'er first cycle, an' she 'adn't put no 'eart on the calendar neither".

XXX

The silence that had gone before had been deep and awkward; the silence that fell between them now was so deep it went beyond awkward, through uneasy and positively smashed the pain barrier, ending up deep in the uncharted territory of the profound. The sentence seemed to echo over and over inside the armadillo's head but each time she heard it anew she simply forced herself to discount it entirely; there was no way something so obviously set down by the laws of nature could be so flagrantly shattered asunder, it just wasn't possible. Accepting that as the truth, the armadillo moved onto the next logical step when it came to trying to make sense of a lunatic statement, Mobian error; _it's quite simple really, Vec's either got his facts wrong, or he's trying to wind me up again – either I'll get the correct version this time, or he's going to get a black eye_;

"But", she tried to sound blithely logical despite the crocodile's expression making that a very hard struggle for her, "but, Vec that can't be right…"

"Funny ol' thing", hope sparked up in her chest; this was all some huge misunderstanding, "Charm an' I were thinkin' the same thing, bu' this is real Might", that same hope was crushed back down again more by the heavy fatalism in her friends' tone than anything else, "I'm sorry I 'adda tell ya so soon after comin' back, bu' y'ad ta know. Fact is Esp's been pullin' the wool over all our eyes; 'e ain't an 'e after all, 'e's a she an' come the night o'the twenny-fifth, she gave me an' the buzz-boy summat not to far away frum a 'eart attack".

The crocodile said nothing more for the moment; he understood enough, heck he'd even been through enough in the very recent past, to understand that the armadillo was still reeling from this psychological blow. She was slumped in the passenger seat, facing him with her lips moving, but not saying a word; he knew how she felt, he'd been in a very similar mood that fateful Christmas night. All he could do was wait – Mighty like everyone else he knew had her own time frame in coping with things like this and it would be pointless to try to cover any more ground until she'd cleared this first, largest hurdle. Idly he checked his watch and grimaced; he could only hope Charmy had managed to make it back to the Chaotix's place in time to transport into the shrine before either of the guardians began to suspect something was amiss; _though with any sort of luck he'll have figured out a good cover story as to why he's there instead of me. In fact scratch that_; a strange sort of gallows humour permeated his current down mood, though he resisted the urge to chuckle on the grounds that his passenger might take mirth of any sort in completely the wrong light; _the guardians probably had more of an idea about what was happening today than I did up until I switched the TV on this morning_.

"Okay"; the word was barely louder than a single breath but he heard it nevertheless; glancing over his vision was met with the sight of Mighty seeming to give herself a mental shake-down before repeating herself, "okay". Still he stayed silent, a little grateful in fact that she seemed to have accepted such a monumental shift in team dynamics and realities much more readily than he'd feared, and spoke again only to answer the questions he knew were sure to be coming; as Mighty turned towards him suddenly, eyes almost feverishly bright with a vehement need to know more about the situation as it stood now, the crocodile readied his pre-prepared answers to be ready for anything she could throw his way.

"You're not joking about this, are you?"

"Nah, no' this time. Wish I was like but", he shrugged, Mighty nodding with the same sort of weary, laboured humour in her tone as much as in his,

"Didn't think you were", she admitted before flopping back in the seat, one hand clamped on the arm rest of the door by the side of her, head shaking as much as it could, "arhh, so, Esp's been playing bloody silly buggers again, only this time he, or she…how the hell did that happen? It should have been ruddy obvious shouldn't it?" Somehow the similarity made the crocodile chuckle as for a second he heard almost exactly those words echo in his mind, the armadillo's voice replaced with that of someone a little younger than she was,

"Funny ol' thing Might, Charm an' I were thinkin' the same thing when it first 'appened".

"But", trying to logically absorb this bombshell news the armadillo was stalling, her mental computer in meltdown as her knuckles rose to her forehead, gouging a neat furrow in the skin there as through trying to batter acceptance of this insanity into her skull physically, "but…" Something grabbed her wrist and she almost shouted in shock, adrenaline pumping and ready to let fly with her other hand before she realised it was only Vector, the crocodile looking sternly accepting as he released his grip and gave her back control of her hand,

"No time fer buttin' anything 'ere Might; like I said ta Charm, ferget 'bout what 'appened, jus' work on 'ow we're gonna deal wi'it now it 'as – it's all we can do. No-one else knows", he added quickly, recognising now would be a prime opportunity to deliver all these dolorous tidings in one hit; at least that way it'd be over relatively quickly as far as everyone in the Chaotix was concerned, "Knuckles, Rouge, Shads an' Jules, no we ain't told no-one. Tha's up ta Esp ta do, an' as of right now", he gave a short, bitter bark of humourless mirth, "she ain't doin' much o'anythin'".

For a moment that seemed to stretch to eternity like the world's strongest elastic band Vector received no answer; in all honesty he hadn't been expecting one – more so than anyone on Angel Island other than Charmy, he knew how hard it would be for Mighty to take in a shock of this magnitude. He waited quiescent, saying nothing more but reaching down and, after a second of fumbling under the steering column, starting up the van again, the sturdy old vehicle rumbling into life and jerking off forwards again. With the armadillo a silent passenger for now, Vector kept his eyes on the road ahead and drove without speaking, both Mobians alone in separate worlds of solitude despite being separated by a distance of less than feet; _ but it's not my place to say anything_; and it wasn't – sneaking a glance from the corner of his eye he couldn't see much due to the shell shadow overhanging Mighty's face and cheek, but he could tell just by dint of association that right now she was getting down to some serious remoulding of the facts she now knew and trying to get her appreciation of the Chaotix to warp around these previously-unthinkable certainties. It was, he knew, a long and arduous task to accomplish, but accomplish it she surely would – like he was with Espio in fact, he just had to give her time to think in peace and make her mind up about what she was supposed to do and think now; the irony of the situation not lost on him, Vector simply focussed on driving home, knowing that eventually Mighty would talk with him again, probe for more details about what exactly had happened and what was going on now.

Until such a time as that, however, the crocodile drove in silence, leaving his passenger to her own troubled, turbulent thoughts.

XXX

"So"; _thanks for that one_; at the first word from the Mobian next to him Vector glanced heavenwards for a minute – having just entered Echidnopolis a minute or so ago, the crocodile reckoned he still had about fifteen to twenty minutes if he went easy on the gas to answer any of the armadillo's questions, "you said you never told anyone right?"

"I did, an' we 'aven't" Vector re-iterated, giving a satisfied nod as the van rolled to a stop at a red light, "like I said tha's fer Esp ta do". Storing that information away now she was sure of it, Mighty pursed her lips and moved onwards onto new, unexplored territory,

"Okay, so what's been happening since Christmas – you said that was when it all kicked off. But what I don't get is how", her expression clouded into something akin to frustrated puzzlement, "even if it was her first time she should have felt something beforehand; cramps, generally hot and bothered, that sort of thing, unless it's just because she's a lizard".

"She 'ad been feelin' summat Might"; _good point that_; now she'd triggered his memory, with the benefit of hindsight the cause of the chameleon's malaise for the few days running up to the festive period seemed so obvious, "jus' generally down an' not quite 'erself; oh, tha's sumthin' yer'll 'ave ta get used to", the armadillo turned towards him, looking more interested as Vector tried to make his next point clear at the same time as change gear, "between us, the Chaotix that is, we call Esp 'er; when anyone else is about, she's still 'im, got that?" Weighing it all up, Mighty for the first time realised just how much of an about-face to normal life this actually was; _man I'm going to have to be careful about what I say now, at least until all this is cleared up…_;

"I guess so"; …_but no point in putting extra pressure on the others_; her thought finished as she surreptitiously looked Vector up and down again – though she hadn't noticed it before, there was no doubt that the crocodile was looking a little more ragged and harassed than he did normally; _I reckon they've both got enough on their plates as it is. Oh I hope this hasn't put Charmy out too much_; she'd been looking forwards to seeing the bee again since she'd left Scotland – in fact that was one of the things that had made the journey back bearable at all, but she was under no illusion that this sort of palaver was going to impact badly on her friend's normally-unquenchable chirpiness. More to prevent herself thinking too far down these depressing lines than anything else, Mighty hurriedly moved on,

"So, at least we might get a bit of warning next time then hey?" Vector snorted at her weak joke, just the crack in the tension between them she'd been after as it let her ask her next question without too much awkwardness freezing solid in the cabin of the van, "But, I mean since then, how've you all been dealing with it? I mean", she hastily added, not wanting to sound either too probing or too disinterested at the same time as desperately want her question answered, "I know you said Espio's been laying low, but surely the others would have missed her by now – how have you lot kept all this under wraps for so long?"

Vector said nothing but chuckled grimly, smoothly swinging the van steering wheel around between his scaled hands as he plotted his route home; though he did want to get there sometime soon, more for Mightys' sake than his own it had to be admitted, he still wanted to make sure he had enough time to explain everything he could to her before chucking her headfirst into the new piranha tank the Chaotix had become in her absence.

"We've all been missin' 'er Might, up ta'point that is", just as he began to see the discovery dawning over the armadillos face he elaborated, "story we cooked up, actually I tell a lie, Charm came up wi'most o'it, but it boils down t'the fact tha' Esp's ill wi'the same thing 'e 'ad, jus' 'fore you left. That on its own aughta by us a bitta time, but jus'ta make sure buzz-boy also came up wi'the idea that she's also goin' through another sheddin', getting' us a bit more time ta scrape our necks off the block".

"Shedding?" Mighty looked up nonplussed, "I thought she was already full-grown?" The crocodile shrugged,

"I did too Might, but right now I can't say anythin' 'bout 'er fer sure, 'cept she's a year or two younger'an me. Anyway, whether she is or isn't ain't the issue 'ere", the armadillo met his sidelong look and nodded, understanding the point he was driving towards, "point o'fact is wi'that an' her shammin' bein' ill, we reckon we got a good week or so left 'fore people start thinkin' sommat's up. Neva thought I'd say this Might, but right now I just 'ope a week's gonna be long enough for 'er ta snap back inta 'er workin' life – normally I'm one'a the first ones ta want ta kick 'er out fer a bitta fun. But wha'ver she's doin' up there now, I can tell ya straight up, it ain't fun no matter she says otherwise".

In perfect truth the crocodile had left that last sentence hanging for a reason; he wanted to get all this over with in the van, here and now – at least that way he could have said with a clean conscience that he'd given Mighty all the information he had and in no way, shape or form was she arriving back on Angel Island unprepared for the adaptation she'd have to go through, just like the rest of the Chaotix were having to manage. He was therefore somewhat surprised, therefore, to find this desire checked by his passenger's refusal to bite on the lure he'd dangled in front of her; rather than asking exactly what the chameleon had been up to, Mighty instead held her peace and, after leaning across to pat his arm with a reassuring smile and nod, settled back in her seat, the conversation obviously finished as far as she was concerned. More than a little perturbed by this, the crocodile was nevertheless sharp enough to realise when to take a cue; _though what I wouldn't give to know what was running through her head right about now – no, come on, I'll find that out later, right now I reckon she wants some peace and quiet to mull it over_; and the rest of the journey passed with not a word spoken between them, an alien, if much more amiable quietness than before descended to shroud the two of them, wrapping their secret thoughts and questions in an impenetrable fog of rapt contemplations.

XXX

Much like the rest of her family, and by strange coincidence, most of her boyfriends' family as well, Mighty believed that the first night after getting back from a vacation or a journey anywhere was not to be frittered away on trivial things such as unpacking bags or airing out her old room again – no, there were far more important issues that had to be tackled first. _And right at the head of that list right about now_; having casually thrown her travelling condiments onto the floor of her bedroom upstairs, the armadillo licked her dry lips and about-faced, mind already downstairs and waiting for the rest of her just to catch up; _is a nice cup of something just short of scaldingly hot – ah Vector_; the sigh that breezed lustily from her lips as she swung around the jamb of the kitchen door was equal parts relief and gratefulness for the crocodiles' thoughtful nature, well-disguised as it always was beneath an unassumingly rough exterior; _at least, no matter what hell or high water we might have to run or wade through, we can always count on you to have the kettle boiling when we've finished with it. _Unable to speak for a minute while her imagination teased her taste buds with the aroma that poured like liquid honey into her nostrils, Vector seemed to hear her come in and thoughtfully deposited two full cups on the table before them, kicking out the chair opposite his own with a flick of his foot at the same time as take his seat, gesturing for her to do the same,

"Come on in babe, 'ave a seat; no doubt yer'll be needin' one after me drivin' ta get us 'ere". The armadillo didn't respond, instead almost throwing herself into her seat and snatching up the cup, glugging down the liquid within with indecent haste and ignoring the burning pain on her lips; the sensation of taste was more than enough to make those painful pranglings insignificant. For a full minute she did nothing beyond breathe and swig at her drink, apparently forgetting the now grinning crocodile in the room with her existed at all, before with a final flourish the bottom of the enamel mug clunked down on the table top and Mighty looked up, blinking as though lost in thought for a second,

"Sorry Vec, what were you saying?" He chuckled, shaking his head; _same old Mighty – no point talking to her after she's been visiting the Big feller_;

"Nuthin' important", he assured her, raising his hand to illustrate the point as she began to look disbelieving; he sipped at his own drink, trying to come up with something else to say that didn't impinge on the thorny topic of the chameleon he was sure still dwelt upstairs, entombed within her bedroom in a self-imposed exile from the world. Leaning back in his seat to disguise his sudden lack of inspiration, his eyes fell on the gilt pages of the calendar pinned to the wall behind him; almost immediately his mind took over and swept the problem in front of his aside with contemptuous ease,

"Though 'eads up Might, wasn't sure if yer'd be ready so I left this open-ended wi'the boss", the armadillo looked across at him as he pointed up at the calendar itself, "pencilled y'in fer workin' tamorra, earlies; that suit ya, or ya wanna couple days wi'yer 'ead down? Ya look a touch jet-lagged truth be told".

Almost as if his words were a magic enchantment the armadillo found the first stirrings of sleep beginning to pluck siren harp strings in the back of her mind – having to fight to hold down a yawn, Mighty tried to make herself look completely in control of herself as she answered his unnecessary, if well-meant, query about her welfare,

"Na, no need for that", she shook her head and a finger simultaneously, "thanks for giving a toss and all, but I'll just turn in early tonight; slept most of the time on the jet actually, and I doubt Tails was in the mood for conversation in the Tornado – he did have Cream with him after all. Probably grateful I was asleep actually"; almost despite himself Vector found his lips twitching upwards to try and match the armadillo's acidic smirk, and it was only with a monumental effort of will that he resisted such an urge, choosing instead to raise a finger of his own and look disapproving,

"Now don't you be rotten 'bout ol' TT; tha's my job", he reminded her, finally letting go the smile he'd always know was coming, Mighty grinning in echo before he again turned slightly more serious, "any'ow, they're stayin' the night wi'Lara an' 'er other 'alf; no chance o' getting up t'any tricks in there I'd bet".

"Too right, at least that's what I'd heard last time I bumped heads with Rouge; I think her words were something along the lines of 'only one woman's ever going to conceive in her house, and she's already pregnant thank you very much'". Vector shuddered, squeezing his eyes shut as he could just picture the echidna matriarch making such a pronouncement in exactly the right tone of voice guaranteed to commandeer the attention of not only her wilful son, but also her bull-headed daughter-in-law with equal ease. Casually checking his watch off, the crocodile found himself having to check again as he didn't trust himself to realise he'd got it right first time around; _blimey, trip over here took even longer than I thought_;

"Sorry"; _huh?_; looking over nonplussed, the crocodile saw Mighty glancing over, expression somewhat askew as she asked again,

"You saying something?"

"Uh, oh, no; thinkin' out loud mor'an anythin'", he cleared up any confusion with an eloquent explanation, "jus' realised the time; Charm'll be 'ome in a minute. The 'ole Chaotix tagether again", as Mightys' jaw dropped slightly and she ripped her eyes down to her own timepiece on her wrist, the crocodile chuckled at his own dramatic pronouncement, "heh, I make it sound like yer've been gone fer forty years or more, through truth be told, it feels like that a bit wi'what's gone on, oh, an' I'll tell ya this fer free Might", only just realising who he was speaking to in the nick of time, the armadillo flicked her eyes over to him again even as her ears strained to pick out the faint buzz and crackle of the downstairs teleportation unit activating, "the buzz-boy's been 'it worse than I 'ave by what's kicked off 'round 'ere – dunno why but since, that night, Esp's not 'elped 'er cause any far as 'e's concerned. Tha's all I'll say on the matter", he raised his hand, deflecting his team mate's suddenly penetrating gaze with an imperious wave, "anythin' mor'an that Charm'll fill y'in on if 'e wants to, got it?"

_Fair enough I suppose_; though inside the armadillo was seething at being left in the dark like this, especially if this was about the chameleon doing something obnoxiously odious towards Charmy's good nature, though she had a nasty suspicion this was almost exactly what this was about. Fortunately, however, she realised there wasn't going to be long pause before her becoming aware of the problem and her getting an answer to it; with a distinctive crackling noise, both Mobians in the kitchen felt their heads turn as the electrical popping noises died away, there were a couple of clunks and crashes from some subterranean chasm beneath their feet and a faint voice began to speak, gradually getting stronger all the time,

"…awful day", it seemed to be grumbling as its owner ascended the stairs from the basement to the ground floor, "if it were raining it'd be blowing a damn blizzard out there now; is my stinger blue? Should be, after having to sit on that cold stone on the floor all morning; how Knuckles puts up with it I've got no idea. Still, not too bad I suppose, though Vec, get down the pot-bellied pig, I reckon I'm going to be needing a bed partner tonight, the forecast says it's supposed to get colder than…" How either of them were holding in their laughter against the background of this running commentary the armadillo had no idea; across from her Vector has hugging his stomach, face wrinkled up on itself as he fought to stop himself snorting. Mighty herself had one hand over her mouth, the other gripping onto the table in support as there was a noise behind her; swivelling around in her chair, the armadillo had a brief second of satisfaction in seeing the stupefaction writ large on the bee's features before, as she knew he would, Charmy threw off his shock at seeing her again and with a yell of sheer delight, threw himself forwards into her open and welcoming arms.

XXX

"Oof!" More for theatrical effect than any great effort on her part she fielded her ecstatic team mate the same way she had many of the snowballs Big had sent her way earlier in the holiday, "you've put some beef on while I've been gone Charm; a few too many helpings of Christmas pud for you my lad. Christ", hearing his laboured breathing in her ear as he tried in vain to get his thoughts into some sort of logical order to speak to her, she twisted her neck to its fullest extent against her shell and buried her lips into the ruff of stiffer furs around his neck, speaking even as she planted a greeting kiss there, "I missed you while I wasn't here, in fact knowing I was coming back to this was all that made coming home worth it. How was the razor while I remember?" Half-releasing, half-thrusting the bee away gently, she looked forwards into his face to try and glean an answer from his expression alone,

"Does it work okay? I'm not really one to go looking truth be told – in the end I really closed my eyes and stuck a pin in the catalogue".

"Well in that case you were using a lucky pin"; _good_; that was a relief to her, she was first to admit it – rubbing hand through the fur on his chin and neck, Charmy grinned ever wider, perhaps the edge of a suggestion on the tips of his smile as he raised an eyebrow in her direction, "smooth as the proverbial baby's – wouldn't be interested in giving it a rub now would you?"

_Oh boy_; not two minutes and he was already up to his old tricks – Mighty had to bite back a sigh of equal parts exasperation and expectation; _he already knows he's not going to get anywhere but he never stops trying – just as well, the day he does is the day I know something's gone seriously wrong with the whole operation_. That much at least was true; Charmy's mood was a pretty effective barometer of Chaotix morale overall and, as was blatantly obvious from the way he was trying to act seductive now, there was nothing here to suggest that things were as badly awry as Vector had been making out. Still, just because he knew nothing was ever going to happen didn't mean he couldn't try and, by the same token, was no excuse for her gently prodding his non-existent hopes a little more; with a deeply drawn in breath, the armadillo shook her head,

"Not really, no", she drawled, having to fold her lips inwards as the bee's face fell heart-brokenly, "I'll take your word for it – I'm just glad I made the right choice". Charmy cocked his head, heartbreak morphing easily into suave, sophisticated inquiry,

"Sure I can't tempt you?"

"Perfectly", she quashed said inquiry quickly, chuckling as she did so and holding out her hand – knowing the game was up for now, the bee capitulated and shook it gladly, spinning around and dragging the armadillo's hand with him, almost ending up sitting on her knee for a second as Mighty squeaked in shock; _boy he wasn't lying earlier – he was sitting on something chilly_. Not quite aware of the discomfort he was causing, Charmy stretched up a touch and let one arm reach around his friend's shell as far as it would go – not long enough to reach around to her other shoulder, he was content to have it drape around the back of her shell as he leant his cheek against where her ear poked out from the rim of her natural armour, murmuring as he did so and Mighty likewise constricted her hand slightly, holding her friend closer to her as he spoke,

"Missed you loads while you were gone shelly, and not just because there was a lot of heavy work sprung up over the holiday"; _just this once I'll let you off_; the bee knew he wasn't supposed to use her least-favourite nickname but right now, with a bellyful of hot tea and back in her home away from home, Mighty couldn't muster up the necessary energy needed to get annoyed with anyone, "the razor's the best thing I've ever had, at least once Shadow taught me how to use it properly; right now it's just, just… brilliant". He seized the first word that came even vaguely close, grateful that even that much had fallen to him as he heard as much as felt Mighty reply,

"Good, I'm glad", there was a push on his rear end as she lifted her thigh – reading her intentions right, the bee stood up and allowed her to her feet for a minute, looking him up and down with a deep layer of seriousness in her eyes as she said her next words, "listen Charm, Vec told me a couple of things on the drive over; I don't want the gory details but I do want to know that you're feeling all right with everything that's going on now – I already know he's gnarly enough to look after himself".

Despite his annoyance at her back-handed slander, the crocodile couldn't help but feel a little respect for the tactful way Mighty had gone about this problem, solving it through delicacy rather than barrelling in with both feet first. Similarly, when the bee looked up and met the armadillo dead in the eye and stated in a stony, truthful tone that yes, he was feeling a little disjointed still but was nevertheless soldiering on as best he could, Vector felt a little pride seep up through himself; _good – I guess that means I can't have done that bad a job of steering us both through this after all. With you'd been here though_; the last thought was directed more at Mighty, and truth be told it was more for the sake of the chameleon upstairs than it was for either himself or even Charmy – somehow he just instinctively knew that the presence of another woman in the house would have helped matters no end in the immediate aftermath of Espio's first traumatic introduction to the world of sexual maturity. _Still, pointless crying over milk that's been spilt for two weeks now_; with a fatalistic shrug of his mnemonic shoulders the reptile tuned back into the conversation just in time to jump in shock; with a sound like a small gunpowder explosion, Mighty had clapped her hands together and looked around the kitchen briskly,

"Right, that's enough of that, feeling miserable and all; onto the good stuff as far as I'm concerned from now on", glancing left and right as she crossed the floor, Vector heaved himself out his chair and Charmy jumped to attention as she barked out orders, "okay, I'll raid what's in the fridge; you pair, saucepans and whatever's in the cupboards that's going to cook in ten minutes or less. I'm starving, you're cold and you"; _what about me?_; not saying a word, the crocodile nevertheless folded his arms and attempted to look something like imposing as Mighty appeared to draw a blank in her quest for words, "I don't really want to think about what you are at the minute. Just help us get something to eat". Vector snorted, turning away from her with a comment of his own and seeing, out the very corner of his eye, the same grin on her face as there was now besmirching his jaws,

"Bloody 'ell, ten minutes back an' I'm already gettin' it in the neck. Roll on next year – next New Year might be the only time I can getta bitta peace and quiet!" _Good to have you back Might_; as the sound of badly-smothered sniggering squeaked out from behind him, the crocodile felt something as heavy as a lead cannon ball drop out of his overburdened heart; _first time in a long time I've heard Charm laugh like that – thanks a lot baby_; having to suddenly stop himself sniffling, the crocodile forced himself to make sure his eyes were clear of tears before he turned back around to face his team mates again; _thanks a hell of a lot_.

XXX

Fork clattering to the platter again, Mighty made sure she'd swallowed her latest mouthful of the dish the three of them had quickly rustled up between them before continuing from where she'd left off, the other two Mobians hanging on her words by now, thoroughly enjoying her graphic retelling of her Highland adventure.

"So yeah, me and him have been having a right old battle royal these past few years; little cheater", memories of her impish cousin Roddy flittered through her mind like mischievous gremlins, "he's never built a better snowman than me yet, he just won because he's better at the sympathy act than I am".

"Gee I wonder how hard that could be?" Charmy broke in with a snicker, earning himself a nasty glare from the armadillo before Mighty picked up the thread of her conversation again,

"Yeah, so anyway this time I'm ready for him; he so is a cheat you know, he always starts building his entry while the rest of us as chucking bucketloads of snow at each other", the reasons behind this ritual, however, she kept private – as far as the rest of the Chaotix had to know Roddy's unusual behaviour was due to his competitive streak rather than as a self-inflicted punishment for a sin he'd convinced himself lay solely on his head, "but this time, oh this year I was ready for him. I managed to snag Mina, she'd an adoptee, first time up with the rest of us, after she'd been cheeky; gave her a choice of either helping me or facing the consequences – guess which one she went for?"

"I wonder", Vector answered sardonically, inclining his head for her to continue and, thus encouraged, the armadillo ploughed on, really getting into the meat of her story with vive and enthusiasm,

"So yeah, I told her she had to sabotage the little monsters' early start, and she did. Problem was though", the memory of Roddy's prototype snowman body literally falling down around his ears made her cringe for a minute; _that was a bit of a noggin whack he took there_; "she did it a bit too well and, just my luck this is, mum just happened to be close by when it all kicked off. Well I couldn't just leave her there could I?" The armadillo spread her arms over the table imploringly, trying to convey how desolate Mina must have felt – about to be shouted at for a problem not really of her own making; honour had simply dictated that this time, she'd had to come forwards and take the rap herself. Vector shook his head; it was the way she told them that made it all sink in – right now the crocodile could almost picture himself ankle-deep in snow colder than the atmosphere in the Chaotix's home had been recently, watching the armadillo take a rap from her mother as the other players in her game stood on looking relieved in some cases, thunderous in others,

"Okay, so whaddya mum say ta that?"

"Too much", the armadillo grumbled back; _I still can't believe she threatened me like that – so much for her much-vaunted Christmas spirit_; "she said she was going to tell Nessie to disqualify me from the contest for cheating; of all the nerve, after the tricks Roddy gets up to every year. Still", she sighed, slightly more forgiving towards her younger relation now, "I suppose I aught to be grateful to the little whatsit – he did come up with a plan to make everyone happy, even though I'm sure Big had something to do with it, he just never mentioned it".

"Well", Charmy broke in after the armadillo had lapsed into silence for a minute, "don't keep us in the dark; what happened?" Mighty blinked before seeming to remember where she was; flushing slightly, she apologised for her inattention as the other two Mobians shared a glance; _yep, Big's got his hooks in her again_;

"Oh, sorry; well, he sort of challenged us, me and Mina I mean, to a head-to-head affair. Basically he and Big were going to be working together like we were, and at the end of the first, orthodox challenge if you like, everyone else would take a vote about which team made the best display. I'll give him his due, grudgingly", the armadillo screwed her face up but nevertheless raised her cup a fraction as her eyes rolled heavenward, "wasn't a bad plan by his standards, even if he rigged the contest again, rotten little sod". Massaging his eyes even if the grin beneath them revealed all his teeth, Vector attempted to sound curiously bored rather than sniggeringly tickled as he announced,

"I jus' dread t'ask…"

"No you don't you lying upholstery set", Mighty interrupted, though truth be told she too appeared more resigned than indignant at her fate as she told the last part of this particular story, "but yeah, anyway, we, both teams that is, get down to business; now Mina's not too bad a hand at making snowmen of Mobians, but she's not got a patch on any of us other three in terms of strength; Roddy's like me you see, a throwback", realisation dawned in Charmy's previously-crossed eyes and he gasped, only just avoiding saying something potentially rude at the last minute and letting the armadillo continue, "so he's a tough old toe-rag when he has to be. But I have to go careful because if I try anything too massive Mina's not going to have a hope of muscling in on the act too much, so we decided to go for something a bit Christmassy but small at the same time, so we started trying to sculpt Snow White and, of course, the seven little people who made her famous. We both get cracking, and I mean that; Mina looked as determined to win as I was, but even so, we just ran out of time towards the end; the princess herself was a beauty even if the bottom bit of her dress cracked a little just before it was judged, but we only managed to get six dwarfs on show. Still, I thought it was way better than the abomination the other two came up with", shuddering at the memory, the armadillo took another fortifying sip of her second cup of tea and tried to banish the unease that still stirred within her gut as she, along with the rest of her family, had approached the massive effigy crafted by her nephew and boyfriend with distinct trepidation, "in the spirit of the season it most definitely was not".

"Young kid, and Big don't forget; if he had an enduring image from his childhood in mind he'd never forget it", Charmy mused, sucking his lip for a moment before giving up trying to figure out where the armadillo was going with this and approaching the answer in a more straightforward manner, "go on then, what did they managed to put up between them?" Mighty turned to face him, stony-faced,

"Ever seen the film 'The Wicker Man'?"

"Yeah, both of 'em", Vector broke in, having done a second's thinking; after another second similarly employed, he screwed his face up, "the first were a'right, the second's dire – 'ang on, ye're kiddin'...?"

"No I'm not", Mighty said with a shake of her head, making to elaborate as she saw Charmy still looking pensive, obviously trying to remember the movie in question, "Roddy stood on Big's shoulders to get the head in the right place and they went from there. Credit where it's due it looked amazing, but come on", she looked up exasperated, certain that if her family were going to withhold the sympathy vote from her, surely she'd get a bit more leeway from her friends, "hardly in the right sort of spirit was it – I mean a horrible great thing like that against a sweet fairytale image, no contest surely? Right?"

For a second she couldn't believe it; Vector was the biggest kid of all when it came to the season of goodwill with Charmy not far behind – there wasn't a chance they'd have voted the same way as most of her family had was there? The silence, however, seemed to be stating otherwise; looking up, Mighty made to restate her case again, in fact the first few syllables had almost appeared on her lips before she saw the expressions on the faces of her friends, they way they were no longer looking at her, but instead their gazes were trained on a point just over her shoulder. Feeling a cool breeze behind her where before there had been none, a weight like a shot-putt dropped into the armadillo's gut; weighing up her options and decided that the pretence of ignorance probably had the best chance of the pretence of bliss, Mighty turned around in her seat with the largest, friendliest, fakest smile she could force her face into on her lips and spoke almost before the picture was clear in front of her,

"Hi Esp, been keeping well?"

XXX

_Oh_; surprise was quickly caught in a clenched fist and crushed to death to be replaced by cool logic and fact; _it's you – your holiday is over all ready? Shame, it was difficult enough to get some peace with just the other two around, now it'll be even harder_. Still, the chameleon knew, the struggle wouldn't deter her – in fact quite the opposite, it was a challenge to be relished and bested as, like all struggles, it made the end result all the more satisfying. Staying where she was for a minute, the chameleon very pointedly looked the armadillo up, arms folded, before answering,

"Yes, I have"; and that was all she needed to say, so why was the armadillo looking like she expected further, meaningless conversation? Espio dismissed the thought without a second glance, looking around for a source of sustenance and paying about as much attention to the others as they should have been paying to her – all the while, she was thinking more and more about the journey of self-discovery she was undergoing now. Had she gone far enough – well that was a very obvious no; there was no such thing as knowing enough, having enough or being strong enough both mentally and physically, and any who said otherwise were either defeatists or fools. However, while she still had a huge distance to travel down this path, there was no denying that she needed to eat while she was doing so; it would be a pointless exercise to starve to death. Taste was irrelevant, however; pouring some more of the cereal into a bowl, the chameleon added a quick splosh of milk to her meal before nudging the fridge shut again and moving back upstairs, saying nothing more than the three words she had answered Mighty with, and having had nothing said back to her in kind. It was solitude both within and without herself, and she was glad and grateful for it.

XXX

_Hmm, okay_; already the cogs were turning in Mighty's mind; she didn't have to look around to see the expressions of both mortification and malevolent anger that were besmirching the faces of her friends – the forces of their expressions were so strong they were virtually tangible to her. As the kitchen door swung shut and the last footfalls died away, the chameleon not even having looked over her should to say goodbye to them all much less ask how her holiday had gone, Mighty glanced over to the bee stood just beside her, the hair on his back bristled up the same way it always did when he was angry or sad; _and which is it now_; the thought emerged before she could control it, and knowing the answer brought her little comfort; _probably both_;

"So, how long's she been like that?"

The first word had shattered the silence of the kitchen like a gunshot but the armadillo had gritted her teeth and pressed on, for slowing down now might have been fatal to not just her nascent idea, but also her friend's hopes of a successful homecoming for her. Charmy appeared to have misheard as he stood where he was looking confounded, but after a second his eyes cleared and he gave a slight 'oh' of surprise,

"Oh, who, Esp?" Mighty nodded, giving a kind of 'who else?' look; _bingo_; emboldened by her support, Charmy spat more venom out and, inadvertently, let her get a little deeper to the absolute root of this rotten problem, "she's been like that ever since Boxing Day; we went out to see this movie Spectre had made – long story", he brushed off her questioningly surprised looked brusquely, "and came back thinking she'd nearly frozen herself to death. Unfortunately she was still alive and since then we've been trying our best to cope-stroke-put up with her".

"Why?" Affecting a lack of understanding, the armadillo turned to Vector this time, "What's she been doing?"

"Pretty much wha'ya jus' saw", the crocodile sighed, standing up and moving over to the dirty dish the chameleon had brought down with her and moving it towards the washing up bowl, "she's been locked in 'er room fer near enough two weeks, won' come out 'cept ta get sum food an' 'ave a wash 'ccassionally. Don' take no kindness at all; Charm made 'er up a tray once, day after Boxin' day – came back frum watchin' the vid 'e mentioned, it were by 'er door, no' been touched"; _oh is that so?_; anger licked up Mighty's insides – she knew at least as well as the next Mobian just how much of an annoyance the bee could be at times but if he thought he'd gone too far he'd put himself out to try and solve any problems he'd caused. Flinging his good intentions back in his face like that - Mighty's mental cogs began to tick a little faster now as obviously the situation was a little more desperate than she'd originally thought; _I'm not having this team feeling like this over something so stupid. Esp, you just need to get a grip and take it from me if there's one thing I do well it's make people get hold of…oh, Vec_;

"…we've jus' been keepin' low", luckily the crocodile hadn't seemed to notice her missing part of his speech and, relieved to have got away with it, Mighty paid more attention as he finished, "let 'er get on wi'it, all we can do". _Maybe, maybe not_; leaving that thought on hold for a minute, Mighty clapped her hands as if to break up the descending bad mood,

"Well you've been doing the right thing as far as I can see; still, she's", the armadillo jerked a thumb over her shoulder dismissively, indicating the stairs, "not here now, so let's forget about it. Now where was I…oh yeah, you never answered; come on, no chance a big snow dummy shoulder have won a Christmas contest was there…?"

The remainder of the evening passed both quickly and in, if not riotous, the certainly good-natured spirits; in some ways, however, Mighty was quite glad of this. For one thing, neither Charmy nor, even more unusually, Vector seemed to protest for her to have a bit more time off when she mentioned that no, she didn't want to cancel her early morning stint at guarding the Master Emerald shrine, but more importantly than that, however, they seemed to put the fact that she sometimes lost the plot in what she was saying and tailed off in her sentences slightly more often than before to the fact that she was a little rattled by meeting the new, even more unpleasant and acidic Espio for the first time, never suspecting the magnitude of the idea that was even now building up steam in her mind.

XXX

_Ah, back to work_; overcoming the slight dizzy disorientation that travelling by teleporter often evoked, the armadillo sauntered down the short passageway towards the main room of the Master Emerald shrine, already seeing the green pearlescence from ahead of her; it might just have been a trick of the light, but she'd have liked to have thought that she'd seen a sudden pulse come flooding down the passage towards her, the heart of Angel Island recognising and perhaps welcoming back one of its absent friends. Amazing as it might have sounded the armadillo actually rather liked her time in the shrine itself; contrary to what a lot of people actually thought, Sonic, she had to admit, chiefly amongst them, actually guarding the Master Emerald itself wasn't that boring a job – as far as she could make out, there was some kind of atmosphere around the emerald that seemed to quicken the passage of time within its sanctuary. _Guess it must have something to stop the boredom taking a hold though_; logically as she always did, Mighty rubbed her chin with her free hand as she emerged squinting into the green light itself, blinking until her eyes adjusted slightly; _otherwise Knuckles would have been beating his head to a pulp against a brick wall long ago_. For a second the vision of the actual guardian of the Master Emerald flickered in front of her eyes and she scowled, forcing him from her mind – right now, she needed some time to think and put some finishing touches to her plans from the previous evening and thinking about delicious and deadly alluring thoughts of revenge were not going to help achieve that.

Settling herself down, Mighty set about her task immediately; _so_; it was a thorny little problem but she'd pruned far worse in her time before now;_ Esp's locked himself, or herself as she is now, though no-one except me, Vec and Charm know that yet – hmm, that'll have to change at some stage, we can't keep that one up forever_; making a mental note, the armadillo lingered on the problem for a minute before backing down; _one problem t a time now – first thing is, we've got to batter down the bedroom door and get Espio back into something close to a normal society. Now how_; and this was the telling question, one she was currently grappling with and that was, for the moment, holding its own against even her formidable armadillo logic; _are we going to do that – can't really reason with her al that well at the best of times, and these are far from the best of times, so what…?_

Mighty was lost so deeply in her thoughts that it wasn't until the figure by the entrance of the shrine coughed for the fourth time that she actually looked up; true to her word, she never actually forgot about the Espio conundrum but there was no denying that it was rapidly relegated to second place as every single one of the delicious and deadly revenge schemes she'd come up with came rushing back to the very forefront of her mind as she set her stony gaze on the echidna stood in front of her, trying his best to look abashed but not quite able to keep a smile from his lips at the same time.

XXX

_Ah, she's not forgotten has she?_; not that he'd ever have expected her to really, but Knuckles couldn't have helped clinging to a feeble hope that somehow the armadillo now glowering at him might have just had time wear away the very edge of the embarrassment he'd inflicted on her just before she left for her Christmas holiday. However, that was a hope that very quickly blew away in the full face of Mighty's disapproving stare, leaving the echidna feeling very naked, exposed and bracing himself for the absolute worst; _and knowing what she can do…_; he winced, not even contemplating finishing that particular thought.

"Ah, umm, hello Mighty", somehow his lips managed to move, his voice wavering and higher than normal by a good octave and a half; when she didn't respond he had to speak again to break down the wall of ice she was freezing around herself, "err, mind if I come in?"

"It's your shrine"; actually technically it wasn't but not even Knuckles was stupid enough to point it out to the ticked-off armadillo – instead he merely smiled weakly and, screwing up his courage, took a heavy pace into the centre of his birthright, a step closer to the armadillos' striking distance, talking all the while and having to restrain himself from looking around to check the exit was still a reassuringly short distance away,

"Sure, er, how was the holiday?"

"Aside from the beginning", she intoned acidly, Knuckles flinching at the inflection as she inclined her head his way, "it went very well thank you. How was yours, and how's your mum these days. She must be getting pretty big by now?"

"Huh? Oh, umm, yeah, she's, er, well she's got a couple of little helpers over this morning, so that'll help take the weight off her feet a bit. But she reckons Kneecaps is going to be a real humdinger, maybe even more of a handful than me". To his relief, Mighty smiled,

"Tails and his co-pilot over are they? Good for them, and Lara as well I suppose; oh, forget it", she threw herself to her feet and Knuckles leapt backwards, heart hammering and mind screaming for an exit point before he saw the look on her face – the expression of wry acceptance and annoyance soothed his ragged nerves somewhat, but still didn't completely stop the fear in his mind, "I know why you're here Knucks, and I'll be the first to say it's a bold move". Self-consciously clearing his throat, the echidna rubbed the back of his head,

"I'd say it was more self-preserving than anything else – I mean come on, Rouge kicked me out for two days after I dropped the bomb on you and TGG, what else was I supposed to do now you're back?"

"Run away screaming like a little girl?"

"Don't tempt me", the echidna moaned, still managing to keep his trembling legs from bolting for the door, "but anyway, I am sorry for what I did, and if you wanted to rip my tail off I wouldn't blame you – I mean I'd rather you didn't, but I could see why you'd want to, so please just…"

"You're all alike you know; just men in general I mean", Mighty shook her head in exasperation as the guardian listened in dumbfounded, "whenever you've done something wrong you're falling over yourselves to apologise without having a clue about how to do it properly, just say whatever pops into your head at the time. Look, just stand there and think a minute – if I really was that mad, don't you think you'd already be running like hell and screaming for mercy, trying to stop me ripping you apart?"

"Umm", temporarily speechless, Knuckles could only nod; thus encouraged, Mighty moved on to her next logical point,

"So, as we can surely conclude that you're not running like hell and squealing like a stuck pig, what can you deduce from that? Come on", she cajoled after Knuckles stayed mute for a minute, "it's not that hard really when you think about it". Still the echidna said nothing and Mighty was on the verge of spelling it out for him when with an explosion like a firecracker from behind his eyes the echidna jumped up,

"You're, not actually that mad?"

"Ding, give yourself a gold star that echidna", Mighty chuckled at long last, "of course I'm not; I was to start off with but, in the end, you've got to say that was a fantastic bit of trickery, the way you did it all so smoothly, absolute magic. Overall, looking at it all holiday", she shrugged, "what else can you say – put her there?"

_Uh oh – I hate devious women_; perspiration began to prickle along the guardian's back as he beheld the armadillo's outstretched mitt; either he shook and risked her ripping his arm off, or he didn't and risked offending her, and he had little time to make his mind up. _I am a warrior first and foremost, born to the guardian line_; there was little comfort in the old line but at least it seemed to massage his self-esteem prior to losing one of his limbs – he had to shake, knew he had to and, after all, he'd sort of been expecting some pain since he'd made the decision to come here. With his heart in his mouth and his life in his hands, he quickly thrust his hand forwards, squeezing his eyes shut as he felt flesh around his hand; it rose once, twice in time with his racing heartbeat, then withdrew – almost stupidly, the echidna opened his eyes and looked down at his arm. It was still where he'd left it, hanging in mid-air in front of Mighty, who was shaking her head at him once more; the weight of what that had meant smashed into his mind all at once, and it was a glorious release for his pent-up nerves.

He soared, he'd done it, he was absolute free and escaped. Knuckles felt like dancing, singing and generally acting a bit too much like Sonic than he'd have considered sensible; he was alive, Mighty wasn't going to reduce him to bloody sludge, what else in the world could match that feeling? Still, his cool head reasserted itself somewhat almost immediately, though there was no denying the excitement in his voice as he gabbled at the smirking armadillo in front of him,

"Mighty, wow I just, I am so, thank you, thank you just so much…"

"No problem, like I said it was a good trick".

"…I mean I thought I was dead when I came here, that was it, time up, over and out, RIP guardian; you're not going to kill me?"

"Not yet I'm not", she retorted, a smile on her unwilling lips even as the echidna glanced over, looking mortally wounded, "just get a lid on yourself boy".

"I can't, not even Thunderhawk could make me", true to his word Knuckles actually jumped up into the air, elation granting him wings, "I'm so happy I'm alive".

"Why? Surely you've figured out the reason you're safe haven't you?"

"Nope, not a clue", refraining from skipping with the greatest of difficulty, the echidna grinned widely now, "I don't want to know really, it's great I actually am so safe and happy and…"

"It's because you can't tell when I'm lying".

XXX

The hope was just starting to die on Knuckles face when Mighty launched herself at him, rugby-tackling the guardian to the floor with a proper look of malicious vindication on her face as Knuckles roared in fear,

"You getting away with murder like that, no chance in hell! Come on Knuxie", half-standing, she grabbed both his legs and began to drag him away towards one of the pillars set for the seven Chaos Emeralds, all vacant as the jewel were still scattered and lost, "payback time".

"Mighty, no", scrabbling at the floor the echidna was having to fight hard against both horror and hysteria, made all the worse as he felt himself losing to the armadillo's far superior strength, "please, I'm not…"

"Oh yes you bloody are!" She assured him, grinning with sadistic glee and assuaging her guilty conscience that although she'd promised that she wasn't going to let Knuckles interfere with her planning while she was in the shrine, planning that had been done outside the shrine didn't count for that particular bet. _And I have been planning, and now_; realising she was just where she needed to be, the armadillo grinned as she saw the tools she'd brought with her through the teleporter hove into view; _you, my lad, are going to make sure you don't give your little humdinger of a brother anything unpleasant at all!_

XXX

Just as the track change, Vector straightened up; _could have sworn I heard something_. Standing and making strides towards the lounge door, he poked his long-snouted nose around the door in time to see the door to downstairs spring open and Mighty come bouncing out of it, a look of pure, unadulterated bliss on her enraptured features,

"Errmm", thrown off-track a bit by her expression, Vector nevertheless rallied quickly, "Well I was gonna ask what'ya fergotten, bu' seein' the look on yer face I'd say it were sommat else on yer mind?"

"And you'd be absolutely right my dear Vector", the armadillo assured him breezily, one hand now rummaging around in her pockets, "I just had a little chat with Knuckles and he said he'd take over the rest of my shift for me – isn't he a sweetheart?"

_Ouch_; the crocodile felt himself wincing despite his glee that the guardian had gotten his just desserts from the second party disenfranchised by his cruel prank; with what he hoped was a despairing sigh, he stood up and folded his arms,

"Go'n then, whaddya do to 'im?" Mighty looked shocked, her free hand covering her heart,

"Vector, you think I'd resort to violence, after a silly little stunt like that one he played on the pair of us before Christmas?" _No_; the crocodile found his shoulders shaking despite his best efforts to hold them still; _I know you'd resort to violence after a silly little stunt like the one he played on the pair of us before Christmas – mind you, tell me when you're ready – we can digest it at leisure then, and a tasty dish it will be I'm sure_;

"I'm sayin' nuthin'; keep yer secrets fer now Might", he shifted to let her carry on almost skipping down the hallway, buoyed up by her breezy mood, "jus'as long as I get ta 'ear it in the end, right?" The armadillo chuckled with a thumbs-up and a nod,

"Right, but anyway, as things stand I've got a message to deliver and then a lot of remembering to do; oh, one other thing though", her voice dropped in time with her shell lowering and, intrigued, Vector dipped his head to listen in, "I'm giving our new little empress up there up until tomorrow morning to get her head screwed on right, or I'm going to do it for her. Don't you and Charm come in at all", she held up a warning finger as Vector's blood had chilled as he relaised exactly who the armadillo was referring to, "this is a strictly female pursuit, understand?"

"Guess so"; Vector knew when to argue and when to keep his mouth shut, "so, gonna let us know yet?"

"Nah, still got jobs to do, and I want to get that vision fixed in my head forever; Knuckles Echidna, the inept Houdini…" Her voice tailed off as she strode down the hallway, passed into the lounge and bumped the door shut behind her, Vector's eyes never leaving her shell the whole time as he scratched between his virtually-invisible ears the whole time.

_How does Houdini get involved in all this – on second thought_; too many visions flooded into the crocodile's mind and absolutely none of them were nice; _probably better I don't answer that_. Still, Mighty seemed to have given more questions than she'd answered with that throwaway line and he was beggared if he could answer any of them; even as he stumped his way upstairs he racked his brain to try and see through the smokescreen she'd thrown up around her plan, but it was proving as impossible to budge as the obstinate, unpleasant smell that had lodged up his oversized nose. It was an odd sort of scent, definitely not palatable by any stretch of the imagination but, for some reason, Vector had the strangest feeling it was important, and that it was one he'd definitely caught a whiff of before somewhere…

A/N: But to know the exact origin of that odour, and the gory details of Knuckles' punishment, you'll have to tune in to next chapter (hopefully up sooner than I managed this one now I'm starting to kick the damn bug that's dragged me down so much!)


	6. Chapter 6 Girls on Girls

Chapter 6 – Girls on Girls

Chapter 6 – Girls on Girls.

A/N: April turned out to be busier than even I could have possibly expected and I've not been home much to do any writing – okay, that's the excuses out the way, now onto the people who really matter in all this:

Mariosonic (MS from here on in) - Good luck on making that time machine; sorry to keep you waiting but hopefully from now on it shouldn't take so long to get the new chapters up - here's hoping anyway!

Ri2 - Poor Knuckles; after what he's done I've got no sympathy (as you've probably guessed). I always meant to give Vector an accent like that one but up until I got some practice in with writing speaking in accents (see The Joys of Hearth and Home), I was a little afraid to try it in case I messed it up. Hopefully it's not too bad; no complaints so far!

Winging her way through the skies above the island she now considered to be her home, the words she'd read so recently flashed through Rouge's mind once more and that same shiver of unease rippled through her; though she'd known ever since Knuckles had made up his mind about going to straighten things out with the armadillo, albeit reluctantly and with every one of his fingers and toes crossed that he wouldn't simply be pummelled to paste the second Mighty clapped eyes on him, something about the message she'd just got rubbed her up the wrong way. _What did she mean by 'five-a-day'?_; veering left to avoid a slight downdraft, the bat let her mind think as she recognised how near she was to the shrine almost on autopilot; _and why'd she text me anyway – if nothing else I'd have liked to hear about how she and Big guy got on up north. And apart from that_; that prickle of disquiet began to blossom into a full-blown itch as a frown twisted across her lips, one hand coming up to scratch her chin in thought; _if Mighty's got in touch since his visit, why hasn't Knuckles? Oh well, no time like the present to find out_; realising where she was from the boulder she'd just glided over, Rouge flared her wings out and dropped her speed, not wanting to cut it any closer that she had to on the approach to the shrine itself – flashy entrances that just skimmed the top of the archway leading in to the shrine of the Master Emerald itself were all well and good, but not generally things to be attempted when there were other, more pressing concerns distracting your mind. Touching down daintily onto the surface of Angel Island again, the bat listened for a second before straightening up in alarm; _what the – oh no, who's ill now?!_

Horrid visions of Charmy, virtually on his death-bed a few scant months ago, galvanised her; from the choking and gargling sounds her super-sensitive hearing could pick out emanating from the innards of the stone monument itself, her initial diagnosis was someone was being very sick inside and that was not going to happen on her watch. Temporarily forgetting the recent messages she'd been given and plans she'd unearthed from her husband that morning, Rouge raced inside, tracking down her new quarry with her hearing alone and drawn inexorably into the central point of the Master Emerald's lair. Her eyes weren't as sharp as her ears, however, so upon arrival it took a few seconds for her to pick out the shivering little bundle huddled at the base of one the seven pillars dotted around the room, seconds that felt like eternity for the one undergoing the full viciousness of an armadillo's revenge.

XXX

"Knuckles!" For a second she'd been unable to believe it but the sudden, feeble cough was a dead giveaway; feeling almost faint with shock the bat lurched forwards towards where her husband sat lolling almost motionless at the foot of his pillar, face and chest streaked with grime and sweat from the exertions he'd obviously engaged in judging by the amount of loose sand that had been kicked away by his flailing feet. Words failed her utterly; Rouge was unable to question how Knuckles had gotten into this state, where Mighty was or even why the fur around her husbands' mouth was an ugly, bruise-coloured purple instead of its normal red or white – all she could see was the echidna writhing around on the floor as though undergoing some kind of serious seizure. Had he been bitten by something, a poison or toxin of some kind – it seemed like the most rational explanation to Rouge's mind as she rushed up to her ailing husband and tried to still his frenzied attempted to free himself from whatever was holding him back,

"Knuckles what on earth happened here?" Looking into the face of her husband the former spy begged for an answer, any kind of answer; he opened his mouth and she had to turn away, overwhelmed by the fumes that rose from between his lips like rotten sulphuric smoke from a magma vent, "forget it, don't breathe near me. Hold on", she'd seen what the problem as far as him not getting loose was; darting around the back of him the bat took in the crude but nevertheless effective knot arrangement that bound both the guardians' wrists, looped once around the stem of the pillar itself to ensure Knuckles wouldn't be going anywhere fast. Stooping to tug at the cords Rouge quickly gave that idea up as a lost cause; due to his thrashing Knuckles had exerted his great strength to such an extent that he'd pulled the knots around his wrist so tight not even her nimble fingers would have had a prayer at prising them open again. _Luckily though_; feeling around on her belt the bat quickly found what she was looking for in one of her small pockets – a small but sharp piece of flint, something Knuckles had gotten her into the habit of carrying around with her, equal parts trail-marker, fruit-peeler and, most importantly in this case, makeshift knife. Grabbing hold of the piece of rope nearest to her, Rouge tugged it back to try and cut it only to nearly have her nose mashed flat against the pillar itself as Knuckles, either unaware or uncaring of what she was doing, gave another frightfully hard tug on the ropes around his wrists. Stumbling back from her close escape from a broken beak, the bat crept forwards again more cautiously this time and, once within range, reached around the short stone shaft to slap the side of her partner's head,

"Hoi, watch it you; that was nearly my beautiful face you ruined there. Knuckles hold still", the fact he didn't reply to her witticism rattled her somewhat and, more to stop herself dwelling on what might have gone on here, the bat decided to forego subtlety at all and make her requirements plain, "don't move a minute and I'll cut you free". Once more the echidna said nothing and that made her worried; even as she worked the sharp edge of her tough little knife against the natural creepers that had been used to restrain the guardian, Rouge found herself wondering, not if Mighty had anything to do with this as it was obvious she'd been here, but just how deep her involvement with her husband's mute problem ran. The merest edge of the idea that she might have hit him hard enough to break his jaw entirely was just about beginning to make itself clear in the murkiest corners of her suspicions when, with a twang like a violin string breaking, the last few strands of the vines gave out before the jagged saw she was using and Knuckles was free again.

He shot off so fast the Rouge had to blink to make sure it wasn't Sonic with his fur dyed crimson; she'd been knocked onto her tail end by the cord that had whipped up into her as, freed from their restraints by the worrying teeth of his wife's stone blade, Knuckles' hands simply shot apart and slammed into the ground, heaving the rest of himself upright in the blink of an eye. The sundered thread of vine, still trailing from his wrists, was spun around the pillar like a snake coiled around a lit firework as the echidna took off, the longer of the two segments slamming into Rouge's breastbone and taking her off her feet in shock as her awestruck eyes simply watcher her other half's progress towards the exit of the shrine. _Boy was he shifting_; the thought that a little training with Shadow had been just the ticket in Knuckles' speed training flitting around in her mind, the bat slowly picked herself up and followed the trail Knuckles had so carelessly blazed, ears twitching in concentration as she tried to work out what the armadillo could have done to rattle her husband so early in the morning. Almost immediately a grin stretched over her face and she had to mentally scold herself for such impudent thoughts – there was just no way Mighty was the type to come on strong to anyone, least of all someone who she'd first rendered completely unable to escape; _but still_; despite her efforts at self-control she had to snigger, just a little; _it's fun to dream sometimes – well, it might not be fun for Knuckles at the minute, but at least I can get a giggle or two out of it, so it can't be all bad._

Blinking in the bright sunshine, the day tolerably mild by the standards of a winter on Angel Island, Rouge brought up a hand to shade her eyes, looking around for signs that would lead her to Knuckles again; normally he could move like a ghost when he wanted to, making it nearly impossible for people to track him down, especially around the area of the Master Emerald shrine itself, the area he was destined to protect for the rest of his unnaturally-long life. On this occasion, however, it was blindingly obvious exactly where he'd been; whatever was troubling him so awfully was blowing away all of his normal proficiencies at stealth and quiet movement – she could hear him from here, and he'd left a trail even Sonic could have picked up. Moving off at a brisk trot, Rouge let herself do a bit of thinking en route to touching the bottom of this foul swamp – though she couldn't see the exact answer through the murk, there was no denying that a couple of facts were absolutely solid in all this mess. _Firstly_; she started ticking them off on her fingers; _my husband is in a lot of distress for some reason – second point is that Mighty is almost certainly involved in some way. Third thing is that whatever it was she did to him, she didn't want him getting away from it too soon, that must be why she rang me_; it made a kind of cruel sense in that by relying on the bat, Mighty had ensured that Knuckles had been forced to endure at least a couple of minutes torture before she could come riding to the rescue. Giving a small nod and mental wink towards the armadillo herself for outdoing herself in the devious stakes, Rouge pushed such thoughts from her mind in order to take in the scene before her once more as she came to the end of the trail Knuckles had heedlessly pushed in the bushes in front of him – as before, it took her more than a few seconds to manage such a feat as the scene she witnessed was about as far out of the bathtub as she could ever expect it to get.

Much to her amusement and her husband's chagrin as she kept pointing the fact out to him at all the wrong times, Knuckles was not particularly picky about what or when he ate and it was a point she could rationalise with – after all, on his own as he had been, he couldn't have been able to tell where his next meal was coming from, so it made sense to take whatever he could find as and when he found it. Since Echidnopolis had returned to its island birthplace it hadn't been quite so essential to take every meal ticket as it presented itself but still, old habits died hard and she occasionally had to remind him to take it easy when it came to wolfing down his food. He'd improved no end and she was proud of him for it but what she was seeing before her eyes, the carnage of gluttonous consumption before her, left her feeling more than slightly ill, even more so as she saw her husband's soiled mitt driving into the dirt and ripping loose another stringy, thin root for his teeth to tear into – Rouge almost gagged as she recognised what he was glutting himself on. _Bitterroot_; memories of the taste she'd only ever partaken of a couple of times in her life came flooding back to her – the most charitable word she could have ascribed to the characteristic sour flavour of the soup it made was 'distinctive', and there were several word she'd have preferred to use instead; _but eating it raw? Even you've usually got enough of a head about you to cook it first, and actually_; a sudden booming of sound made her look around just in time to see Knuckles spit out what looked like a cud of black oil, the mashed remains of the bitterroot he'd been chewing on coated in something else, the same thing he'd been gagging on while he'd been pinned down at the shrine; _you're not eating it at all – why are you spitting it out like that? Not like I'm asking now mind_; and a truer thought she'd never given credence to – right now the safest course of action for both of them was probably just to let Knuckles get on with whatever he was doing and try to reason it out when he'd finished; _you just carry on, I'll take a seat and wish for a video camera. If nothing else_; the thought of her several generations of grandfathers-in-law seeing the latest in the bloodline acting like this brought a chuckle to her lips; _Spectre out the lot of them would probably get a laugh out of all this_.

XXX

The first thing he wished for when his mind came back to him was that it would go away again; by being there it was forcing him to face up to a scenario he didn't even want to think about ever again.

Not even after the stag night Thunderhawk had dragged him into following his acceptance of Rouge's proposal had he felt so rough, or so outright violated. The last traces of the normally-unbearable sour juices of the bitterroot were finally being swallowed down his throat, leaving behind the agonising, revolting blasphemy that was slicked over his tongue and the inside of his lips like a poisonous tar. Grimacing at the sheer awfulness of the taste, Knuckles brought his knees into his chest and sank his chin onto them, curled into a ball as he tried hard to banish what felt like the last eternity of his life to the dust of his memory.

"Knucks? You okay down there?" Obviously not everyone had read his mental plan; looking upwards a little, the echidna was forced to confront the terrible reality of his current predicament for the simple reason he couldn't ignore his wife when she was stood so close to him, hand on her hips as she surveyed his pitiful stance with a curious, sympathetic eye,

"What happened babe? I know you like a bit of bitterroot to add a bit of bite to a dish but", he followed her gaze, seeing the splattered remnants of the roots he'd been chewing in a desperate attempt to preserve his sense of taste, "that's a bit much even for you. I know Mighty was around earlier but…"

"Mighty", Knuckles parroted weakly, a brief hint of recognition that grew swiftly stronger, the flames of his ire fanned as he realised who had been the one to put him through this hell of tortured confinement, "she, was at the shrine, I said sorry…hickory nut vinegar", the name of the material that had been used to prolong his agony came to him; it was the only thing that made any sense and he hated her for it, "that was it; she tied me there, had a little pot with her, held my nose until I…it's not funny!"

Of course, Rouge didn't seem to agree with him on that point; she'd been a goner from the first time he'd mentioned the name of the armadillos' signature cold cure; _well that explains the bit in the text about five-a-day_. Bent double under the strong fit of the giggles that had struck her down, the bat put her hands on her thighs and made a massive effort to stand up straight; she managed it up until the point she looked into her husbands' furious, bright red face and the stains that besmirched it like an infant that hadn't worn a bib and collapsed again. This was perhaps a little unfortunate as, laughing as hard as she was at the same time as mentally congratulating her armadillo friend for coming up with a revenge plan that even she would have been hard-pressed to better, Rouge missed the look of sudden, suave calculation that flitted across Knuckles' face. She never saw as he slowly managed to push himself to his feet and even her ultra-sensitive hearing was blind to his approach as he tip-toed over, his soft footfalls muffled by both her mirth and the blurring of her vision from the tears of laughter in her eyes.

By the time he was in position and she looked up right into the face of his assault, there was no hope for her avoiding the fury of an echidna scorned by the one he loved most dearly of all.

XXX

_Okay_; mentally preparing herself, moving her hand forwards inches at a time, her breath quickened as she came closer to her prize; _and…no!_; snatching her hand back, Cream felt herself cheated again as the Lara looked around at where she'd been trying to surreptitiously reach towards the bag she'd made herself and presented to Tails as a thank-you for his teaching her the rudiments of operating an aircraft, one of her fingers accidentally gliding over one of the twin tails she'd stitched onto the end of the 'S' of the fox's nickname, emblazoned on the flap of the travelling sack itself.

"Something the matter Cream?"

"Oh, no, no not at all", the rabbit gabbled back frantically, hoping against hope that the echidna lady had missed her unnaturally shifty behaviour, "just, erm, just looking…"

"You really are hopeless, you know that?"

The new voice that cut in from the doorway to the lounge brought both heads turning towards it; shaking his head Tails strode forwards despite the despairingly frantic gestures his co-pilot was making to try and ward him off. By dint of long association, the fox rather proudly counted himself as something of an expert on Cream's merits and flaws and, seeing what had just transpired, recognised one of the latter coming right to the fore; _one I thought she was getting over as well. Oh well, at least she's better when it comes to the Tornado I suppose_; even as he made that link in his mind, the foxboy stepped forwards, replacing the glove on his left hand which he'd had removed recently to wash up the tray all three of them had used to hold their combined dinners; as Cream and Lara had made the dish between them it had been only fair that he, with his lack of culinary skills, should do his bit to clear up. For someone of his intelligence it had been pretty mindless work but even that had its advantages; while his body had been occupied by the task before it, the rest of his fantastic I.Q had been bent on trying to find a way to break down the rabbit's seemingly intractable shyness as it seemed Cream found it impossible to bring herself to reveal the gift she'd brought up for Lara on her own. In the end, as he was doing now, the fox had simply thrown up his hands at the lot of it and decided to go head down and full throttle – if nothing else, once this whole thing was in the open, Cream had nowhere to hide from the credit she was due.

"Pay no attention to her Lara, she's always like this", the echidna in question raised an eyebrow as Cream glanced upwards and offered a silent plea for the earth to split open and swallow her whole; in fact even if it just split open it would be enough, she'd throw herself down it willingly, preferably taking Tails with her to silence his flapping lips, "can't seem to own up to a good deed in any way; right, nowhere to run now flop", he pointed her out jovially, though to the rabbit his finger looked as pointed and deadly as a spear aimed right between her eyes, "show Lara what you brought – I promise", the finger pointed inwards and ruffled through the fur on his chest as he crossed his heart, grinning at where Lara was now also smiling, infected by his charm a little, "she's not going to eat you; as far as Wyn mentioned the food cravings ran out months ago".

"Praise the spirits", Lara muttered gratefully, both hands gently tapping down on her very obvious pregnancy bump as she did so; _and it did have to be the one I hoped I wouldn't get stung by this time around. What was it I couldn't get enough of with Knuckles, salad with all the trimmings, something like that?_; what it was didn't particularly matter, the fact that during the second trimester of her baby's growth she felt like she'd lived on nothing but breaded fish for months made her feel queasy now. Still, that was an issue she could shove to the back of her mind for now; right in front of her in the here and now, there was a little rabbit girl she was very fond of almost shivering on her settee out of nerves and occasionally spitting nasty looks at the smiling fox from the corner of her eye. Maternal instinct, driven into overdrive by the impending arrival of her own child, kicked into play immediately and she turned in her seat ponderously, the extra weight on her midsection slowing her down a touch in this regard,

"Cream", her head shot up, looking almost wild-eyed with fright as Lara continued, tone calming in every sense of the word, "ignore what Miles just said", the fox grimaced but accepted the slight with good grace, the sight of Cream giving a weak smile enough to convince his ego it was a worthwhile trade, "you're a very open-hearted person so you hate being the centre of attention, but sorry, you can't avoid the spotlight forever". As Lara shrugged in a carefree manner she was relieved to see the dam break a bit; Cream gave a small snort of laughter, the tension seeming to drain out of her despite the lingering hesitancy in her movements as she once more reached over for the bag by the side of her.

"Well, no matter what _Miles_ thinks"; _okay now you're pushing it_; as far as Tails was concerned once was the limit and twice was dancing with fire when it came to his real name, but as Cream dropped her suddenly-baleful gaze he decided to let it slide grudgingly, "I, erm, I, that is mum and me, mostly mum actually", not able to meet Lara's eye and aware she must have been gabbling worse than ever, the rabbit crossed her fingers and flipped the front lid of the bag, her hand diving inside for the contents, "it's a family thing really; grandma had it when mum was little, mum used it when I was a kid but, as things stand, we reckon you probably need this more than I do now. Here", having hesitatingly brought the prize blinking into the light of the room, Creams' final move was explosive and at last decisive; standing up, she darted across the short space between there she and Lara sat and offered up her present, still looking at the floor with her ears covering as much of her face as she could contrive to make them cover, a barrier to hide her embarrassment behind,

"This, um, these rather, well, I just hope Kneecaps likes them as much as I did; they're from the land below, obviously, so they might be a bit different from the stories up…"

Perhaps thankfully, Cream got no further in her tortuous recriminations; Lara had seen the front cover of the large, thick novel the rabbit girl had just handed to her and the image there had been enough. No doubt it was a picture book and quite an old one at that, the pages dog-eared and well-thumbed from many years of long use, but despite a little bit of shriving at the edges of the spine, the front page was still as bold and as inviting as the day it had been published. The illustration showed a family of rabbits, or at least what Lara assumed were rabbits, all dressed in their Sunday best and apparently taking tea together in front of what looked like an old-world tea shop; it was a quite enchanting scene, bordered in slightly faded dandelion yellow that, rather than drowning the subtle shades of the inner picture, instead enhanced the little details and made them easier to pick out by a roving eye. To crown it all was the title, a wonderful flowing script, filled in with a beautiful light red colour – 'The Big Book of Bunny Tales'.

A child's picture-book and a priceless treasure, nay an heirloom of Cream's family no less, loaned to her for nothing more and nothing less than the education and delight of her soon-to-be delivered baby boy.

XXX

Despite her own certainties of her inner fortitude, and having worked as a nurse almost solidly since graduating from college save for the small blip that had eventually grown into the current guardian of the Master Emerald itself she'd certainly developed large reserves of that with the sights she'd dealt with, the echidna woman nevertheless found herself having to swallow quite a lump in her throat as she blinked rapidly, not wanting a stray tear to fall on the cover of this gift for fear of both spoiling it and making the deliverer of such gospel miserable. Instead she simply sniffed deeply and, resting the book in her lap, clutched both hand rests of her armchair; a second of huffing and puffing later against the weight of the egg in her belly and she was stood up, new picture book in one hand and Cream in the other, the rabbit squeaking in shock as the echidna's arm suddenly snaked around her back and squeezed tight,

"You little darling", still blinking, Lara was grateful beyond measure when a glance told her Tails had averted his eyes from this particular scene; smart and tactful he might have been but, just occasionally, it was for the best if the temptation for making a rash comment about the whole episode at some point in the future never existed at all, "there's no price, not all the money and gold in the world, that could make up for this. My little, in fact forget that, even I've never heard about any stories like these; Kneecaps is going to be one of the new generation Cream, one of the first echidnas to realise what life's like outside the island", and it was true – she and Wynmacher had discussed this fact many times and, despite his initial trepidation about his son being exposed to the possibilities of life away from Angel Island, Wyn hadn't been able to deny that the benefits of learning about the lands below outweighed the negatives by far; _and what better way to learn than when you're still in the pouch – think one of the doctors told me that was when kids are most receptive to learning_; she chuckled a touch; _they're not when they start school I can tell you that much._

"So, because of this, of you, he'll have a much more…more open life than anyone else I know, except maybe Knuckles. So thank you for that, for giving my baby something no-one else on this island's ever had", she lowered her head slowly, pressing her lips to the top of the rabbit's forehead as Cream had to bite back a sniffle of her own, not used to such vociferous praise for what was, to her, a fairly routine idea to help someone out, "a new angle, a new grounding to build from, and all because of you and the others from the lands below let it happen. Hey Wyn"; hearing the front door slam and knowing he was working flexi-time, Lara had been expecting her partner back at any moment – the timing couldn't have been more fortuitous, "come have a look what our future top-gunner brought for our little boy". There was a second of silence where she assumed he was taking off his shoes, followed by a short snicker of laughter before he answered; when he did, however, Lara's jaw dropped at the same time Tails started, leaning back in the doorway to check out the new and completely unexpected arrival,

"He will do in a couple of minutes mum; he's just picking up a paper. Still", having banged his boots out on the doorstep, Knuckles eased past a still-stupefied Tails and took in the scene before him with an air of comfortable bemusement, "what you been up to floppy? Anything I aught to know about?"

XXX

As the atmosphere of stunned silence began to thicken around him Knuckles folded his arms, a sort-of smile on his lips as he shrugged mentally; _well I know it must have been a bit of a surprise but come on, I'm not that unusual am I? This is my mothers' house after all_; well, actually since their wedding it was now half-Wynmachers' dwelling as well but the guardian didn't linger on minor points such as that as it seemed at least one of the party seemed to regather their senses at last,

"Knuckles?" Letting Cream go, Lara stood up tall to welcome her first child, embracing him as much as her bump would allow her to, "sorry but, well this is a surprise; I thought you must have been Wyn, I'm expecting him back any minute".

"Yeah I know; I popped into his place before I came here, fancied a bit of company on my walk – like I said he'll only be a few minutes. Anyway, apart from that", taking a step back he placed his formidable fists on his hips and locked an imperious gaze onto Cream, the expression only slightly softened by the smile beneath it, "what's going on here then? Up to no good again Cream, or did you bring the terrible two with you this time?"

"No chance", came a shout from behind him, Tails shuddering as he tried to force away visions of the havoc the rabbits' two pet chao could wreak on his beloved Tornado if Cream ever brought them to Angel Island, "you know the rules Knucks; no animals aboard unless they're in carry-cages". Cream humphed and glared at him,

"Cheese and Chocola aren't animals they're my pets, and they hate travelling in a cage you know that".

"I also know they're not getting anywhere near my Tornado as well; I love them as much as you do but sticky, inquisitive chao fingers and highly-sensitive electronic systems that cost a fortune don't mix", he retorted, grateful to see his co-pilot reluctantly back down a second later, defeated by logic and pricking her ears as she heard a door open again just before Tails continued, "anyway, speak of the devil and he's bound to appear – good shift Wyn?"

"Busy", the chef admitted, stumping into the front room a second later and glancing around tiredly; scooting out the way, the fox gathered up a few used mugs as the latest arrival crashed onto the settee with a grateful moan, "a party of eight, last thing, and they all wanted different dishes as well. I managed to sneak out after the main course; my heart goes out to the guys having to cope with the puddings". Lara smiled as she moved to sit beside him, taking one of his dreadlocks and toying with it carelessly in her free hand, the other still holding onto the picture book as though it were life itself,

"They'll survive I'm sure, but anyway look at this".

"What?" Not quite up to speed it was only when the book landed in his lap that Wynmacher realised something was different; just in case he had any misinterpretations, however, Lara gladly filled him in on the details,

"Something Cream brought for us, bless her", the rabbit blushed again, even more so when she realised Knuckles too was taking more than a token interest in proceedings, "it's been in her family for years so be very careful with it".

"Alright, alright, keep your spurs sheathed", Wyn moaned before looking down at the present on his thighs, flipping it open to a random page a second later. A slow smile spread over his face as he turned first one, then another page; before anyone could stop him it seemed, he'd snapped the entire volume shut and plonked it on the space beside him, standing up and striding to where the rabbit girl stood waiting with baited breath, limp not seeming to trouble him in the slightest this time,

"Cream", he declared as he spread his arms wide, muscles that had once been used to play sky-ball at least fairly competently almost sweeping her off her feet as they clamped shut around her, "anyone ever told you you're a complete and utter gem? If not they should do, at least three times a day; Tails", the fox looked up in alarm as Wyn turned a gaze his way, "I'm making that your responsibility – make sure this girl gets the stellar treatment she deserves okay?"

"Oh come off it Wyn"; _I hate you_; if malevolence had been a force it would have crushed Knuckles into a puddle of slippery gloop as Tails went brick-red, wishing with every fibre of his being that the grinning guardian wouldn't finish the line he could just see was brewing up, "he does that already; have you seen him on her flying lessons lately? Head over heels just doesn't come into it these days, more like continual cartwheels the pair of them…ow!"

_Thank you_; a rush of vindicated glee swept over the fox as Knuckles hopped up and down on one foot, Cream having delivered a rasping kick to his other shin. One hand clapped over his mouth in an attempt not to swear, the guardian couldn't reply as the rabbit smoothed herself down and wagged a finger at him threateningly,

"Enough of that you; I'd have thought even you'd have learnt by now that joking about affections is a bad idea…"

"And besides", Wyn chipped in, a devious smirk on his lips as he pointed at the picture book again, "you'd do well to keep Cream in your good books Knucks – you might need to borrow this someday". Trying hard to ignore him even as Knuckles squirmed, the rabbit tried to carry on where she'd left off,

"…Mighty looked steamed enough yesterday to make sure you'd get that message. You did say sorry to her right?" Having finally been able to put both feet on the floor again, the echidna nodded and drew a deep breath, shifting his weight around gingerly to dull the throbbing near his foot.

"Of course I did, saw her this morning in fact and yes", he held up a hand to forestall the inevitable questioning, "the devious git did get me back, right when my back was turned and all, I never stood a chance; girls never fight fair". Tails chuckled,

"Married to Rouge – I thought you'd have learned that by now", Knuckles gave a rueful shrug and rubbed the back of his head as the fox continued, "anyway, that why you're over here; avoiding death by vengeful Mighty?"

"I wish", the guardian snorted, flumping down in the nearest chair, "she got me back all right; it's the other one I'm on the run from".

"Vector?"

"No", the echidna moaned chidingly at where Cream had queried him, an expression of light mockery on his lips as he smiled, "my other half's got it in for me so I'm lying low for now".

XXX

"Oh dear", Lara gave a sigh as everyone else around her seemed to have to suppress mirth, "I dread to ask…"

"She asked for it", her son countered forcefully, half an opportunity all he needed to vent some much-needed spleen as he folded his arms thunderously, "there I was, absolutely helpless and suffering in the shrine and she comes walking in, not a care in the world while I'm trying hard not bring up breakfast. You two aught to sympathise with me on this", Tails and Wynmacher both shared bemused glances as the echidna pointed them out, only to shudder next second as Knuckles continued, "hickory nut vinegar! A whole pot-full, right down in one, and she'd roped me to one of the pillars as well just to make sure I couldn't get away and wash the taste out; I'm not afraid of taking one on the chin now and then but that was just vicious".

"And just this once, I agree with you; urgh", Tails gagged as he was forced to relive the darkest moment his taste-buds had ever been forced to endure, "disgusting stuff; but anyway, how'd that get Rouge mad at you?"

"I'm getting to that", the guardian assured his audience before carrying on, "but like I said, her majesty comes sauntering in without a care in the world and sees me writhing around on the floor; I'll give her a bit of credit she cut me loose", his expression softened a minute and he mentally increased the size of the present he was going to buy to pour oil over the troubled waters of his marriage now; _mind you, she deserves a bit of spoiling, especially with Sonic threatening to visit like he has been_; "and I went tearing outside, trying to find something that'll let me get my mouth back the way it was. All I could think of was bitterroot, so there I am digging it up and chewing it as much as I can, and even then it didn't work all that well; I can still taste it now". Wyn nodded, looking over at his stepson with an air of shared injustice,

"I know mate, the aftertaste lasts for weeks. Anyway, don't leave us hanging", he leant forwards, eager for the tale to be spun out to the end, "what happened next?"

"Well I ate all I could physically stomach, and even after that I felt rough as old boots", Knuckles admitted before surreptitiously crossing his fingers; _no questions please_; "and she asked what had happened. I told her pretty much what I'm telling you and did I get any sympathy? Did I hell", the echidna grumbled before casting a scathing glance at where everyone else sat trying to conceal laughter or smirks, "in fact I got about what I'm getting now. So I just decided to get outta town, gave her a quick peck on the cheek and ran over here; met up with Wyn at his restaurant and came here".

"Really?" Cream asked the first question after a second of mulling the tale over in her head a little, "That doesn't sound so bad – why's Rouge angry at you then?"

"Because"; _uh oh_; as his mother spoke next Knuckles knew with a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach that she'd seen right through him, "I don't think that's the whole truth. Is it?" He tried to resist, he really did, even going so far as to fold his lips over his teeth to stop himself laughing, "Knuckles?" It was no use; against the force of his mother's steely eye the guardian cracked like an egg, laughing uncontrollably for a minute before recollecting himself somewhat and trying to look at least semi-abashed at his action,

"Well, it was almost that", he defended himself before spilling the beans quite spectacularly, "just replace the word 'cheek' with 'lips', and the word 'peck' with 'French' and, that's about the size of it".

The silence, momentary as it was, was promptly broken by the sound of a foxboy retching; Tails glared over at the guardian as his hand had clamped over his mouth in sympathy for Rouge's plight,

"Arruugh! After hickory nut vinegar", he shuddered, unable to go on for a minute before his quavering voice rose again, "and Rouge, poor her, she's a fruit bat…"

"And bitterroot", Cream also found herself gagging; one of the few things she had in common with the guardian's bride was a sweet tooth, "ewww, Knuckles that was a really nasty thing to do!"

"Well she deserved it", the echidna said again in his defence before his expression softened and became slightly more grudging, "but that's why I'm out of her way for now – any chance of a bed for the night mum?" Lara, who'd been trying her hardest not to laugh at the latest instalment of the catalogue of errors that was her son's matrimonial state, simply shook her head at the lot of it before looking over at Cream, the grinning rabbit lending a gleeful ear as soon as she heard her name called,

"Tell you what Cream, we'll get this back to you as soon as we're done with it", as she saw her favourite childhood keepsake brandished aloft once more she smiled, joining the rest of the room in laughter as the latter half of Lara's sentence came through loud and clear, "by the looks of things you'll be needing it a lot sooner than my daughter-in-law will!"

XXX

As evening descended, one house in Echidnopolis was buzzing with mirth and innuendo as everyone added their own impressions and ideas onto the guardians' story; in another home however, the atmosphere was markedly different. True enough there had been much back-slapping and victorious whooping as Vector and Charmy had been filled in on what form their team-mate's revenge had taken but now, as night began to close in on them and with Mighty's last promise swirling in the air around them like a coiling mist, there was no denying the mood was a little grimmer than it had otherwise been. If anything it was an air pregnant with expectation, restlessness; Charmy, who out of all of them could stand frustration the least, had already turned in for an early night and, as he realised once again that he'd completely failed to follow the plot of the film he was supposed to be watching, Vector too felt an undeniable urge for tomorrow to come and show them what was going to happen, least of all because Mighty herself wasn't telling,

"Might"; apparently unfazed by the effect her words had had on the team as a whole, the armadillo looked over, "ya really think y'can get Esp t'open up?" The armadillo nodded sombrely, the entire mood of the whole room seemingly encapsulated in such a simple motion,

"I can try Vec and yes, I think push come to shove this should work. You and the buzz-boy have done a hell of a job putting up with her for this long, now it's up to me to give it that final shove and hopefully", she crossed her fingers, "start getting things back to something like normal in this madhouse".

"That'll b'the day", Vector chortled before standing up, already tired for some reason he didn't know but was nevertheless extremely grateful for, "anyway, I'm hittin' the hay f'the night – wh'ever it is yer plannin' fer tomorra, good luck".

"Thanks, just you and Charmy keep to yourselves come the morning no matter what you hear, okay?" _Sounds like a warning to me_; and it was one the sensible side of his brain was telling him in no uncertain terms at all it was one he aught to be heeding – taking good advice when it was offered, the crocodile said nothing further but simply waved his way to the door, the armadillo mimicking the action in a half-hearted manner, watching him go and noting his slumped, weary posture, taking it in, burning it and consuming such fury as a fuel she could use when the time arose.

_And it's getting closer_; that much was certainly true – even from what she'd heard it was a sorry enough tale in its own right but she knew, somehow Mighty instinctively knew that her team-mates had hidden at least some of the truth from her, probably not wanting to run the risk of spoiling her holiday or something like that. It was a noble purpose of course, but as far as she was concerned it was also a misguided one; she'd much rather know about a problem and tackle it straightforwardly rather than have to go ducking and diving in and out of shadows to pick up hints here and there as to what was wrong. But she knew about it now all right; _yeah, I know about it, about you Espio_; she and the chameleon had often clashed heads it was true, but this was on a whole different magnitude from anything that had gone before; _you're the reason we're in a mess now, you pretty much ruined the entire festive period for who should be your two best friends, and now their working their tails off to try and cover your absence while you're up there living the life of Riley. _

_Well it won't last any longer Espio_; some of the fuel sparked into life deep within the pit of her stomach, a rising surge of power and warmth that burned through the flimsy flotsam of doubt that had clustered around the top of her idea, hoping to keep it plugged down in her mind and prevent it becoming reality; _but it will happen, tomorrow morning it'll happen. The world doesn't stand still for you Espio Chameleon, nobody should have to go out on a limb just because you've got issues_; slamming one fist into her palm the armadillo turned her blazing eyes upwards, up towards the floor of the room Espio now infested with her malodorous attitude;_ tomorrow morning, I will make you see that – and that's a promise. You're not going to hurt them any more_; standing up, Mighty paced to the door and reached for the light switch, glancing up with narrowed eyes one last time just before she plunged the room into total darkness; _not now I'm back, and I know your game._

XXX

It was a sanctuary, this new, isolated place; probably the only good idea Vector had ever managed to come up with, but right now it had brought about the conclusion she needed. Fingers steepled and resting her forehead upon them the same way since she'd first begun walking into her own mind through the path of meditation, Espio focussed again on her own breathing, the first and most vital step in attaining the newest goal in her life; by concentrating on such a minor function, the chameleon was able to let her mind expand and evolve within her consciousness until eventually it encapsulated everything and nothing all at once. _Breathe in_; the chill at the tips of her nostrils was invigorating but she paid it no heed, allowing all thoughts to drift unheeded through her mind like bubbles in the mist, aware of nothing beyond the flow of air into and out of her vital system; _breathe out_. The expelled vapour was much warmer, thawing out the cold that had clustered around her nostrils but she did not show gratitude for it; to have done so would have defeated the whole purpose of the meditation at all. Through her closed eyes Espio was blind but had never felt so liberated – the truth was often revealed in the most mysterious of ways; before she had been so secure and sure of herself, but since the night that she reminded herself of as often as possible, she knew how immaterial such strength could be when it was needed most. So now she was refortifying her position, regathering new, more reliable power in the most patient, painstaking way possible, testing it almost to destruction every step of the way and discarding her progress if it showed but a single flaw. _There is nothing to be gained by having an imperfect mind_; even as she realised the truth in that thought she scowled; _as has just been proved by that failure to perform even this basic meditative exercise – come on now, focus_; once more she reasserted herself to her goal, keeping her breathing methodical and slow, pacing herself on this road to regaining what had been taken from her by a second's lapse of mental concentration.

As anyone who knew her would have easily said, it took a lot to throw Espio off her stride when she had her mind made up about something; therefore when she heard the first couple of raps on the door to her new bedroom she did nothing beyond start once more with her meditation, not even sparing the cold-caller the effort of getting herself frustrated – obviously someone, Mighty most likely, had forgotten that Charmy no longer resided here. Still, she'd have assumed they'd have taken the hint when she didn't respond to their hammer at the door a second time, and she was in fact just about to take the time to stand up and rectify this situation before, with a resounding crash the door flew open and someone stormed in. Speechless with emotions she couldn't have identified, the chameleon could only watch on as Mighty's eyes blazed around the room once before coming to rest on where she was still seated on the bed itself, the covered kicked back heedlessly to allow her rest on the slightly firmer mattress.

"Right. You", the armadillo pointed her out before jerking her thumb over her shoulder, "up!"

XXX

Even as she watched on, Espio seemed to rally somewhat from her blitzkrieg assault on the place she'd turned into part-prison, part-home for the better part of two weeks; it was not something she could let Espio do as for all their sakes she had to overwhelm the chameleon's defences here and now – if she let the misanthropic Mobian wear her down, there was a chance she might simply entrench herself even more deeply in the pit this room had become.

"And just what the hell…?"

"I could ask you the same thing", Mighty's mouth reacted almost before her brain did, Espio again falling silent and this time, the armadillo noticed with satisfaction, there was a hint of doubt creeping up behind her normally-unreadable eyes, "what the hell are you doing up here in your little palace while Vec and Charmy have been down their busting their tails trying to keep us all employed?"

Of all the things she might have been expecting, Mighty knew it wasn't this; the chameleon's jaw worked but no sound issued from it; though normally she'd have backed off by this point and left well alone Mighty knew she had to plunge forwards no matter what sort of damage she might unintentionally cause – for the greater good of the Chaotix she knew and loved, she had to drive in hard and fast to rip this cosy little empire apart and drag its empress out into the sunshine, kicking and screaming if needs be.

"You, Espio, you of all Mobians", Mighty shook her head as much as she was able to, "I expected better of _you_, but obviously not. Look at this", she swept her hand around the room and numbly the chameleon followed, not taking in things like the clothes that hadn't been put away, the bed linen that hadn't been changed for weeks and the fact that the whole place smelt dry, desiccated; no fresh air had been allowed within for weeks at the least, "what kind of a room is this to live in? And you, what's happened to you – in fact forget that I don't care; all I'm going to say is not any more sunshine", she pointed over her shoulder again, "those two have been putting in enough overtime so now it's your turn. Get up and get to work; I don't care how you're feeling, miserable or otherwise, I don't want to hear it – if you can walk you can work so get going because as of right now Vec and Charm are on holiday".

The tension in the room all but struck sparks from the metal radiator and coat hangers; despite the external iron face she was showing, had no choice but to show, internally Mighty was hoping against hope that there would be no need for any more, that this would be enough to make the chameleon see sense beyond the four walls she'd cocooned herself within. But it was not to be; even as she watched on her heart dropped to her shoe soles as Espio said nothing but, at the same time, her shocked expression morphed into something else, something much less pleasant. A second later Mighty found herself grimacing against the nasty laughter that echoed off the walls like dull explosions in a distant war,

"Screw you, Michelle", the chameleon's voice was soft but hit harder for that, "screw you; who are you to tell me what to do? 'If you can walk you can work' – what a load of bull; I've got more important things to deal with that your immature tantrums so", folding her legs underneath her again, the reptile smiled sweetly and inclined her head towards the door, "close the door on your way out, oh and if you ever burst in here like that again I'll throw a knife through your throat, got that?"

"Wrong answer Esp", before the chameleon could so much as blink Mighty had moved again, divine for the bed itself, "my point wasn't optional!"

Without restraint, and without so much as a shred of remorse as the armadillo finally realised just how much stick her other two team mates must have had to put with over the past fortnight, Mighty shot her hands under the bed and braced herself; there was a stinging pain across her left cheek as Espio managed to throw something like a punch before, with a roar that shook the building almost as much as the crash that followed in, she reared up and sent the whole bed tumbling away from her, Espio atop it thrown off like a leaf in a breeze and landing stunned on the floor, completely helpless as something large and dark in her vision vaulted over the side of the bed and seized her around the throat.

XXX

Even in anger Mighty remembered her strength; therefore when Espio was hurled against the wall next to the bedroom door she merely crunched into it painfully rather than being embedded in the plaster board. All the air the chameleon had been concentrating on mere moments ago was robbed from her in an explosive gasp as pain raced around her system, warring with shock as Mighty leapt back over the upended bed and reached forwards, this time grabbing the point of the chameleon's chin and slamming her into the wall again, pinning her in place as the armadillo leant in very close, her breath hot and the look in her eyes that of a killer as she forced Espio to lock eyes with her,

"What the hell", she growled, Espio unable to reply as the armadillo had crushed her jaw shut with her gripping hand, "gives you the right to make death-threats to anyone, least of all your own damned team mate? You want to kill me, is that it – well news for you; since I got back and heard what you've done, how bloody selfish you've been since the lie you told us all fell to pieces around your ears, the feeling's been mutual. You've been up here, doing nothing while the other two, who've been as badly shaken about this whole thing as you have by the way, not that you've given a toss about them, have been forced to cover up for you going on a bender like this. And for what", throwing her arm around behind her again, Mighty sneered unpleasantly as Espio, unable to struggle against her strength, was forced to watch what she was doing, "what have you been doing up here all this time Espio? You've locked yourself again for what, two weeks now – what for? What's been so important to you that you had to forget everything else, even the few Mobians in the world who could ever put up with you in the first place, and stay in this hell? Well", when no answer was forthcoming the armadillo simply shook the reptile like a rag doll; nothing was going to stop her getting these answers now, "answer me!"

"I…"; _I know the answer to this_; she just couldn't phrase it right that was all – there was no conceivable way of expressing something so huge and important as her new mission in life to the uninitiated; _I know it, you'll just never understand it_; "…I'm…getting stronger; concentrating, meditating and focussing on…."

"Sitting, in a darkened room", Mighty finished for her, voice dripping with sarcasm mingled with something else, an emotion Espio had never expected and never hated more than she did at that moment, the emotion of pity, "locking out everyone who's ever given a damn. You call it getting stronger; I call it pathetic", once more the armadillo's eyes hardened to granite and she dropped the chameleon contemptuously, finishing as Espio slumped against the wall, massaging her throat, "and it's ending here and now. Get to the shrine and don't come back 'til tonight – you want to get stronger, you ask Knuckles or me for some training, you got that? Good", at the ninja's nod Mighty pivoted on one foot, jabbing a finger towards the bedroom door meaningfully, "now go; right now I'm sick of the sight of you – you heard me", controlling her shaking hand by means even she didn't know of, Mighty ground her teeth and growled her final demand, fully intending to throw the recalcitrant reptile down the stairs bodily if she acted up again,

"Move it!"

For a second, an infinitesimal second, nothing happened, no-one moved or breathed; so still was this moment caught somewhere in time that not even Espios' skin dared to change colour as she lay against the far wall, pinned in place by the armadillo's eyes alone. Mighty stood, solid as the Scottish rock her ancestors were hewn from and looking just as imposing as the most lethal of the ancient highland crags, even her eyes in their sockets seeming to rumble like an impending avalanche as they tracked Espio's movements, watching the chameleon slink away, sticking close to the walls as she began to almost slither towards the hallway. Once she'd passed the bedroom door she was lost to Mighty's sight; instead the armadillo relied on her hearing to tell her when the chameleon had finished travelling downstairs, when the door to the downstairs teleporter had opened and, finally, what felt like eons later, when the teleporter itself had cracked into life and made it safe for her to drop her sore, aching arm, tension flooding out of her and away through the floorboards.

XXX

She had meant to leave immediately and start to strip the chameleon's room from the second Espio had vacated it but she just couldn't; for the first time since she'd left the rest of her family the armadillo felt worn to a thread, thin and stretched in her efforts as she realised just how tough that had actually been, especially as being naturally uncaring and nasty didn't come naturally to her. Still at least it was over – that thought she could take solace from and she was grateful for it; slowly regaining some of her motive power Mighty began to trudge slowly from the scene she created, looking a little ruefully at the scene she'd created with the upturned bed and scattered pillows and covers littering the bedroom floor; _still, clear that up later, right now it doesn't matter. What's important is that Espio's out in the big wide world again and that's got to be a good thing_; it was a cheerful thought she was the first to admit it – at least now, broken out of the coffin she'd entombed herself within, there was little risk of the chameleon losing the meagre social skills she'd garnered from her years at the Chaotix. With this in mind, it was a rather cheerful armadillo that strolled out of the smallest bedroom in the team's base camp and, buoyed up by such a mood, her senses were sharpened to such a degree that the merest glance at the corridor to the side of her take in the whole picture of what was going on now, even one taken from the corner of her eye. Almost without looking she realised she'd been making quite a racket, what with her tossing the furniture around and then screaming the room down at Espio until the reluctant lizard finally caved in and got on with the job she'd abandoned since late last year; as she finally figured out just how loud that shouting match had been, as far as she was concerned it wasn't all that surprising for her to see the door to the master bedroom peeking open just a tiny crack, two pairs of eyes and a nostril crammed up against the walls and scanning down towards the source of the disturbance nervously. Almost without thinking the plan was in her mind and she'd acted upon it; staying still for half a minute to lull them into a false sense of security, the armadillo unleashed her trap like a coiled spring; spinning on her heel, she twisted towards where the other two Mobians were hidden,

"Boo!"

XXX

It went better than even she'd predicted; even before the strangled yelps of fear and slamming of the door died away she was in stitches, slapping her knee with wild abandon and unable to stop even when the door was flung open again and a disgruntled-looking Charmy came storming outside,

"That was low Mich, L-O-W low"; _I know but it was funny_; finally managing to get something like a handle on her hilarity the armadillo was able to stand up straight as Vector belatedly joined the party, rubbing the end of his sore snout from where he'd pulled the door right into it in his haste to get out the way of his team mate's phantom threat,

"Tell me 'bout it Charm, bu' any'ow, 'sides that", placing both hands on his hips, the crocodile looked his mammalian counterpart up and down, respect and perhaps even gratitude etched deeply on his face as he finished, "tha' were magic Might – bin wannin' ta do that fer ages, jus' neva plucked up th' courage t'try it out. 'Ow come you did?"

"Necessity", the armadillo assured him, the reasons she'd confirmed in her head last night coming back to her with a vengeance, "basic fact was she needed to get out of there and back to something like a normal routine, she'd have gone completely mad otherwise; second fact was that neither of you two could do it, it had to be me".

"Why?"

"Because I'm a girl Charm", the armadillo filled him in before looking back up at the other two generally, "if either of you two had gone bursting in like that I guarantee she'd have played the 'you're-only-doing-this-because-I'm-a-woman' card; far as I can tell you did well to last as long as you did just putting up with a non-entity like that for as long as you did. If it had been me I'd have strangled her to death a long time ago, bloke or otherwise, and she was bad enough to start with. Anyway, enough of that now", she clapped her hands once, starting on a different track again, "as I said earlier you two, and me I suppose, are now officially on holiday, so grab your coats guys, this one's on me".

No-one moved for a minute, in fact out of the two of them it was Vector who reacted first, scratching his head as though fun were an oblique concept he'd only ever heard in theory books and not practised himself before,

"Er, come 'gain?"

"I said", Mighty elaborated with her spirit a lot lighter than it had been minutes ago; with Espio gone it seemed that a pall of depression had lifted all the way up from her home, its grinding weight gone from the souls of the rest of the Chaotix, "well, first off give me a hand to get in there", she flicked her head behind her as much as she could contemptuously, "cleaned up; trust me it's not a pretty sight and could do with an airing as well, and then we'll get going".

"Going where exactly?"

"That's up to you", Mighty answered the bee's wondering question with a smile, winking in his direction as Charmy cocked his head to the side, expression finally beginning to brighten, "we've got the rest of the day and night ahead of us; you name and we can pretty much do it. Cinema, bowling, fancy eating out – it's coming out of my pay packet. And no arguing", the armadillo laughed before turning slightly more serious, raising a hand to forestall the protestations she could almost feel gathering up momentum before her, "I owe you pair one anyway, covering while I've been away, and after seeing what you've been living with since then I reckon you two deserve a decent break. Well, get a move on", as both her team mates stood stock-still trying to absorb what they were being offered Mighty tried to chivvy them along, herself pretty desperate to get away and try to forget the past few minutes had ever happened, "not like you pair to stand about gawping when there's a free meal ticket on the line.

It was a fair enough point she realised later; in fact she realised it the second after Vector's lips split into a scaled grin and he roared with laughter, shaking his head as though trying to shake loose a mental fog in his mind at the same time as answer her question,

"An' yer'd b'right there Mich", the armadillo found herself suddenly examining her shoes as she tried not to look too pleased with herself, "now, as yer said, le's get the borin' bit over an' done wi', then we can peg it inta town and start paintin' it red, whaddya say?"

"I say", Charmy answered in a grave tone that got both heads turning his way, "that you aught to hold your horses a minute; I have something important to say".

_Okay, not sure exactly where this is going_; and she wasn't – the skin under her shell began to chafe as she saw the bee approach, looking her up and down with the same focussed dedication on his face that she'd seen there before only on a couple of very serious and formal occasions,

"Now Mighty, or Michelle as it should be properly"; he smiled as he mentioned her true name, nodding deferentially; _right, now I'm officially worried_; "we've known each other for what, nearly a year now? And there's not been a cross words spoken between us in all that time, immature jests notwithstanding – therefore, I hope I don't sound completely improper when I say what I say next but I am now over-age, so, my dear Michelle Armadillo…", and he darted forwards, reaching out and grabbing Mightys' nearest hand as he fell to one knee and looked up into her face,

"…Would you marry me?"

XXX

The most horrible minute came when she thought he was being serious.

It only lasted a fraction of a second but even that was surely enough to turn at least some of her fur grey – Mighty was all at once flattered, appalled, amazed and exasperated by the sheer audacity of her colleagues' request, and the last of those reactions quickly came to the fore when the mask he'd slipped over his face cracked completely and he started sniggering around the level of her waistline. Blowing out a deep breath of shock, the armadillo pulled her hand back and glared down at where the bee was by now chuckling whole-heartedly at where she'd been hoodwinked by his bold declaration,

"You little what's-name; you trying to kill me?" Without thinking what she was saying almost Mighty found one hand clasped over her breast as she fought to regulate her breathing again, "I think my heart stopped beating".

"I, ah", coming back to his feet Charmy tried to look reproachful, "I take it that's a no then?"

"Unfortunately yes; as I said once before you're not quite my type Charm", the armadillo growled back before, just like Vector had in the background, she broke apart utterly, chortling away merrily in between trying to complete her answer, "sorry but thahahaat's just the way it is". For his part the insect merely shrugged, looking superbly disdainful as he abandoned this particular part of the plan and started trying to work out what he could do next to spice up the day's activities,

"Ah well, better luck next time then hey? And maybe it's for the best"; _oh really?_; getting the impression he was going somewhere with this, the armadillo lent a closer ear to the tail end of his statement, "got a fiver on Big making an honest woman of you before the year's out – he wouldn't be able to do that if you were wearing my ring on your finger now would he?"

"What?!" Colour exploding upwards in her face Mighty sought to defend her morals and express her outrage at the same time, "you put a _bet_ on us…?"

"'E meant ya gettin' engaged", Vector chipped in timely, recognising the discrepancy between what the bee had meant and what he'd actually said and moving to stifle any discord before it could really take root at all, "any'ow, beat 'im up all want later Might, right now I got betta things t'do. You nip downstairs an' get some fresh beddin' while me an 'er put the room back tagetha; throw the windows open an' we'll be outta 'ere 'fore ten – like you said, we got all day, best ta make the most of it".

"Sounds good to me", Charmy nodded after a second of mulling the crocodiles' plan over, "right, get the bed stripped and we'll go from there; see you in a minute, and I'll get you", Mighty tried to look disdainful as he walked past, prodding her in the shoulder with a firm but not unpleasantly forceful finger, "some other time".

"You can try Charm"; she just about kept it in until he was halfway down the stairs before breaking, one hand clapping over her mouth to smother her giggling as Vector shook his head,

"Don' encourage 'im, 'e's bad enough at th'best o' times".

"I know but", the armadillo took a hasty gulp of air in time to finish, "but it's not easy; he's got a bit of a way about him you know?"

"I know, all too well I know", the crocodile grinned broadly before he too fell a little more serious, just as Charmy had done, "an' thanks fer what ya did Might; can't 'ave bin easy". She lowered her head, eyes darkening,

"It wasn't, but there's a big different between what's right and what's easy – we needed, in fact I needed to break her out of there no matter what, neither of you two could have done it because she'd have just used the fact she's a different gender to you as an excuse to martyr herself and make the pair of you feel about as low as pond-scum. Still, forget her for now", drawing herself up to her full height Mighty watched as Vector nodded and began to shuffle past her, heading for the bedroom that had until this very morning been the lair of Espio, an unreachable, impregnable position of chill and misery before Mighty had stormed it utterly, "we'll change her bed and get a bit of a breeze through there, and make sure she doesn't try to keep herself in here all the time, but beyond that she's on her own".

XXX

Of the walk, of how she had actually, physically come to be here, she knew and remembered nothing; all she could manage to remember was that she was in the shrine of the Master Emerald, sitting on one of the steps that led up to the jewel itself and, somehow, finding herself questioning everything she'd ever believed in.

_I was trying to get stronger, I honestly wanted to better myself, increase my self-mastery_; and it was true, it was in fact the only thing that had been in her mind for the better part of weeks now, and yet; _I failed – no, I did not fail_; even if it felt like it, Espio knew that what had happened, what Mighty had forced her to see, was not failure as such but something that was at the same time both better and worse; _I was going about my task in completely the wrong way, and I never thought to check my ideas at any stage_. The last point was the clincher; a ninja should always have options open and walk the path of least resistance but this time, this time when it had mattered more than any other, Espio realised that she had not just overlooked the teachings of her code but had in fact ignored them completely. This alone would have been a crime heinous enough but to commit it without knowing why, unable to recall at exactly she had decided on her policy of intense meditation and close down all other forms of training – it was both deeply shaming and, to the serious disciple of the ninjitsu path, a complete aberration from her normal paths of thought.

So here she was now, in her place of employ and with only one Mobian to thank for it; _thank – damn it_; the memories of what had just transpired were a drink of bitter bile; _that Mighty should have enlightened me – even Charmy would have been more bearable, but to be forced into the light by someone as closed off to the true path as she is…_ It barely bore thinking about, and in fact she was trying her hardest not to think about it, but the basic fact of the matter was that it had chased every other thought from her head, demanding her attention and refusing to let her move on until she had addressed this new, forbidding conundrum. _I was wrong – what I was doing was completely the wrong thing to do in the circumstances_; that was half the battle – admission of ineptitude was the first step in curing it, but it was the second half of the struggle that proved much the harder for the chameleon to stomach; _and Mighty, Michelle Armadillo, was the one who pointed it out to me. But now_; fear was not an emotion she was used to, not an emotion any ninja should show – instead she refused to give up, converting her guilt into frustration, terror to anger and hatred at the one thing that had failed in this latest test, had failed in fact the most recent pair of trials that had been sent to test it; _what can I do, what should I do, to make sure this wretched mortal coil does not fail again?_

How long that question occupied her she had no idea; all her psyche was focussed on it and unlocking the puzzle that such a thought represented – she knew that if she could crack this riddle that would be it, she would be free of the fetter that had plagued her all this time. Her concentration was so great that not even the sound of boots tapping on the stone floor of the shrine broke her reverie; in fact she only jerked her head up, rather more annoyed at being disturbed than startled at being taken by surprise, at the sudden questioning call that echoed around the interior of the shrine itself,

"Umm, hello? Guys, anyone here?"

XXX

_Rouge_; even the name itself sounded wrong; _translated it means red, for a Mobian who's natural colouring is pure white_. Realising she was unnoticed for the moment Espio simply stayed stock still, taking this opportunity to survey the guardian's bride with a sneer of undisguised contempt – once, it was true, she had almost admired the bat's spirit of independence and force of will, but ever since she'd been married to Knuckles that respect had well and truly dried up and withered under the harsh sun of the chameleon's standards. Since that day the bat had lost everything that had been worth having, such as her drive and determination to get what she wanted, and gained nothing expect maybe a few pounds here and there; in other words she'd become what Espio had sworn she would never be, dependent on someone to survive. _Needing someone, wanting someone in your life all the time, never any respite_; the mere notion made the chameleon shudder before regaining her iron resolve; _no, that's nothing worth having in any way, shape or form – being yourself, remaining as you are and fighting to keep it that way, that's the only path to take. Anything else_; she shrugged, almost numb to the pain that still ached deep within her from her own experiences, memories she no longer visited, visions of a past life she no longer recognised as her own; _and you'll just end up being used_. Realising the bat couldn't see her in the dimness of the shrine's interior, the chameleon silently began fading back to her usual colour as Rouge faced away from her slightly, no doubt confused as to where everyone had gone,

"You called?"

Her voice, the same tone she'd been using for years, rumbled outwards and made the guardian jump up startled; had she not been so distracted by more important matters, the ninja might have laughed at this display of naked fear. Instead she merely sat where she was, coolly disdainful as Rouge, finally picking her out in the darkness, stared for a minute in outright amazement,

"Espio?" She squinted a little, the chameleon rolling her eyes as she prevented herself fading out against the background again, "oh, it is you; feeling better then?"

"Much", she answered before having to take a swallow; _damn, forgot my throat lozenges_; still, at least she had an excuse not to be a sparkling conversationalist this time around, "sore throat and head ache but I'll pull through".

"Oh, oh good", the bat responded, clearly thrown a little off-track by the chameleon rather than any of the other Chaotix being present here – after another second's pause, however, she made a brave attempt to strike up a conversation, "so, you managed to get yourself better then? Mighty didn't have a hand in it did she – I've heard that vinegar stuff she makes can be a bit potent".

Actually Mighty had been one of the main catalysts of her being here at all today but Espio would rather have eaten her entire bodyweight in ground glass than admitted it out loud; instead trying to keep her word count a minimum in order to preserve her throat, she opted for a little colouring of the truth instead,

"She's lent a hand, as have the others", she said succinctly before adding, "though I never let her get close enough with the vinegar to be affected by it".

"Wish I hadn't"; Espio looked up sharply as Rouge made a face, grimacing as something undoubtedly unpleasant scoured her tongue, "take it from me that gunk is absolutely vile. Speaking of which, have you seen either her or Knuckles about at all – love them I might do but right now", the bat glowered, fangs gleaming in the green light of the gem she'd have laid down her life to protect, just as her husband would have, "they've both got big, fat targets nailed to their foreheads as far as I'm concerned".

"No", refusing to countenance the inherent humour in the bat's statement, Espio answered with the simplest language necessary, "I've seen no-one since I've been here". _Go away_; the chameleon silently willed the other Mobian; _go away and leave me alone to get some thinking done_; of course, she had no such luck and it was only her self-discipline that let her avoid groaning as the bat folded her arms, no doubt doing a little brainwork of her own,

"Humph, he must be hiding out at his mums, coward", she cursed before almost immediately sighing, "still, can't say I blame him – Lara's losing her two little helpers today and she could do with a hand I guess, she and Wyn have still got to get the baby's room repainted by the end of next month".

"Thought they'd already finished?"

"Not quite, like I said just needs a lick of paint and it'll be ready for the little monster; Lara not me", the bat held up a hand against a question Espio had had no intention of asking, "apparently all babies are little horrors for the first few months, not like I'll be finding out for a while yet", the bat grimaced again before muttering promisingly, "Knuckles has got some serious grovelling to do before he even gets through the front door never mind anywhere else".

"Loathe as I am to distract you from your marital strife", Espio spoke up a second later, not wanting her already bad day ruined further by an inane conversation regarding immature stunts that had gone on the previous day, "has anything happened that I should be aware of since I've been out of commission?"

"Nah, nothing important", Rouge told her with a airy wave of her gloved hand, "been pretty quiet really, in fact the only thing you really missed has been Lara's girth steadily expanding – don't tell her I said that", Espio had to blink as the bat whipped around to regard her sternly, afraid that the chameleon might let those potential insults trickle back to her mother-in-law's ears, "she's just coping with it all really well though; I just hope I'm that cool and collected when the time comes – I don't know how she does it though".

_Me neither – is this it?_; truly the most imbecilic of swine sometimes unearthed pearls of wisdom – as Rouge thought to herself for a minute Espio seized the priceless seconds of unfettered breathing room; _Lara-Le is strong, she is supporting a child even if she does so with the help of another_; vision of Wynmacher made Espio's stomach turn – how anyone would ever let someone as irrelevant and whimsical as that echidna close to them was beyond her utterly, though the how's and why's didn't really concern her now, all that mattered was the end result; _in fact, more to the point…_

It was as though, right there in that room, the chameleon's vision panned out completely; from focussing on just two of the Mobians she knew it raced away backwards, encompassing every girl she'd ever had even a passing acquaintance with and, as it did so, the scale of the task she had suddenly set herself, the transformation she had to complete from spineless weakling to an utterly focussed and determined warrior, was made suddenly and quite horribly clear. For how long she lingered on this vision of maddening torment she did not know, would never know; it was only when she heard Rouge's voice coming from what sounded like miles away that she began dragging her consciousness back to the present in order to give the bat at least the impression that she was listening. Like echoes down a distorted well the bat spoke to her and all she did was nod in what she hoped were the right places, hating herself for having to trust to the lies spun by others to keep the guardian associating her lack of attention with the illness she'd supposedly just recovered from.

Eons of sitting still and waiting in this purgatory later, half-in and half-out of the enormity of the epiphany she'd just come through, Espio felt her mouth run dry as Rouge suddenly stood, a querying look in her eyes before, reluctantly, she turned away, saying something about going to try and track down either Knuckles or Mighty, a hand raised over her shoulder as she said farewell, not looking back as she departed and therefore missing completely the chameleon's eyes following her every step of the way, the emotion within those pitiless auburn orbs as close to utter hatred as any mortal being could ever possibly be.

XXX

It was both dark and deserted at the Chaotix home when Espio's double shift finally ran its course and for that she was grateful beyond belief; restraining herself from smashing something with the greatest of difficulty the reptile found herself once more forced to come face to face with the realisation she'd made earlier in the day, the boil Rouge had unwittingly lanced in her mind, the barrier that had been broken to allow her to see the truth as it actually was, not as she wanted to see it. _And the truth_; once more Espio had to almost physically grab her own arm to prevent herself shredding the upholstery in the front room with one of her throwing stars; _the truth is that I am inferior, far inferior, to almost everyone else I know!_

It was an awful thing to know but now it was known there was no hope of her unknowing it; the basic fact of the matter was that compared to every other female she knew, Espio had done nothing that could even be remotely considered as equivalent to their deeds. It was a thought that both maddened and crushed her – how could she, she who lived for nothing but her working and then her training all the skills she possessed, have failed where other who were less worthy had managed to excel? Grinding her teeth until they almost made sparks fly, the chameleon threw herself into the nearest seat and hunched over, fingers digging grooves in the armrests as once more the dire roll-call piped up its morbid tune in her mind.

_Mighty, she defeated Metal Sonic, something that it almost half-killed Knuckles to do_; that was a major blow to her, that the one who had humiliated her earlier in the day was now able to do the same thing again even when she wasn't physically present; _Lara-Le is with child and it's not affecting her in any way. Cream…_; Espio had to think for a minute but the answer soon came to her; _…she's learning to fly! Just coming into her teenage years and she's becoming a pilot, while I can't even drive a car yet! And worst of all, the absolute dregs of the barrel, Amy Rose_; the chameleon didn't even have to think about what that hated hedgehog had done, not just to her mental state but also to her physical one. Even now she couldn't reconcile the fact that she'd come off second best in the one time their teams had ended up squaring off – even despite the fact she'd been fighting without weapons and the Piko Piko Hammer had been an as-then unknown quality to her, Espio knew she should not have lost that contest by any stretch of the imagination. Tears began to glisten in the corner of her eyes as the list of characters paraded onwards in her head, each with a vapid smile on their face while she was left snivelling in the darkness, unable to step into the light they exuded for she had nothing that could compare to them; _Julie-Su, left the Legion and fought it off her back, Rouge…oh it doesn't matter!_ Suddenly she snapped around, stifling the sob that had built up in her throat and forcing herself to swallow it whole, the process aggravating a throat already sore from talking in a voice that wasn't hers.

But she had faced, and overcome, worse pain than this before and she would do so again now; blowing the strife away from her, converting it into fuel for her desire, no more than that, her need to improve, the chameleon realised she couldn't stay here. Instead not sure where she was going at all, just recognising that movement was better, for some reason more reassuring, than just sitting still, Espio moved on from downstairs, her feet carrying her onwards as her mind and psyche both focussed on the new equation she had to solve, the riddle of how she could force herself to be ready for the next challenge, whatever it might be; _and my mind is focussed enough_; this much she agreed with herself on – instead it was as she looked down at herself that she scowled, revolted by the sight of her own weak, ineffective body; _it is this, this flesh and its weaknesses, that have held me back since…since whenever._

XXX

Somehow, without realising it, she was back at the beginning, where all the ills of her life had both begun and been revealed; the enamel of the sink was cool under her gloved paws as her heavy breathing ripped through the bathroom's tranquil air, her eyes set on the face before her in the mirror, the hated, loathsome face of someone who deserved nothing more than her contempt and spite for being so weak, so unable to defend herself when it had mattered more than ever before. _Cry_; she could see the weakling in front of her trying not to obey her unspoken command but she knew it would happen anyway; _you were always pathetic, never strong enough to stand on your own two feet and stop anything happening – all you could ever do was lie back and let it all happen, pray that it would go away. Everything that you got, you deserved_; the face in the mirror was almost collapsing now but still a vestige of strength remained, a tiny fragment of a curtain still twitching on its railing in the force of a tornado – a façade that concealed nothing from her cruel, hateful eyes; _you were and are nothing, and because of you I'm getting dragged down into this murk of obscurity – well no longer! You hear me_;

"No more". She knew she would remove this cancer, but how? The face in the mirror was a haunting parody of her own but still, it was the same; how could she force it from her? What would finally kill off this wretched shambles of a living Mobian, put it back into the grave it should never have emerged…

…She saw it, and a grin stretched over her face even as her hands fumbled below her, steam rising up from beneath her chest a moment later letting her know she was getting the job done right, all the time cheering darkly for the final liberation that was now, finally, going to happen, here and now – her old life, and the hatred she bore for it, was going to end in the very room that should have been its burial ground all those years ago.

A few moments later Espio Chameleon found herself grinning into the face of the weakling in the mirror, revelling in the tears rolling down its pathetic face to splash into the basin before her, the salty tears there mixing with another liquid of a different colour, turning the entire bowl of water slowly, horribly, a dark and forbidding vermillion.

A/N: No more warnings; this is just the beginning – if what you have just read makes you uncomfortable, do not read further into this story.


	7. Chapter 7 Hiding the Scars

Chapter 7 – Hiding the Scars

Chapter 7 – Hiding the Scars.

A/N: Unusually, this time around I got this chapter out ahead of schedule – seriously, with everything that's been going on, moving house, finding job etc. etc. I thought I'd never have a chance to do anything writing at all. So, as always, reviewers first:

SM - Esp in the Legion! I must say that never crossed my mind, though regarding your 'vermillion halo' idea, I'll admit that's something like what I'm going for, just not with that much gore involved.

Ri2 - After what he did, I don't think anyone should pity Knuckles, and since when has Espio ever been sane in the first place?

BC - A-levels eh? Ah the memories...still, don't sweat on them too much; take it from me as someone who's been, university and the degrees they offer aren't worth what thye used to be worth in the real world. If you want more information on this I'll PM you, but besides that, thanks for the feedback; Tails and Cream are awfully cute I will admit, and take it from me they'll get closer in time, especially after Cream ends up getting saved by...oops, out of reviewer room :-)!

What time it was when they all rolled into home Vector had no idea and didn't in all honesty care, in fact he'd given up looking at his watch since they'd all headed from the bowling alley. The fact that he'd just given the two team mates he was with a comprehensive lesson in the art of the ball and pins was neither here nor there; though competitive to a certain degree, the crocodile had always been blessed with an innate ability to know when it was time for a little gentle one-upmanship and when it was time to stay quiet about his vastly superior skill, and right now was certainly the latter of those occurrences. As he passed over the threshold and motioned Mighty onwards, the armadillo retreating and giving him the space he needed to shut the door behind him and lock it with his set of keys, Vector pulled up short for a minute and found himself wondering what was different now; he couldn't quite put his finger on it yet and that was aggravating, but in his somewhat mellow mood he gave a shrug and assumed the reason would present itself in due course. As the lock clicked shut he turned away towards upstairs, needing to relieve a suddenly pressing biological urge; _too much cola at the cinema for you pal, told it'd come back and bite you in the end but it just tasted so good._ Swiftly shuffling away to the first floor and slipping inside the bathroom, the crocodile sighed as he nipped inside the door and locked it behind him.

XXX

"Mighty", the armadillo looked up at her name before grinning, extending her arm to clasp hands with Charmy as the bee reached over, "thanks a million for that – best day out I've had in ages". She chuckled for a minute before answering,

"My pleasure mate, like I said the pair of you deserved one", her eyes flicked upwards for a minute as a scowl besmirched her expression, "least of all after what she-who-must-be-obeyed up there had you running around doing – no excuse for that sort of behaviour, least of all in her book".

"Well that's all by-the-by", Charmy interjected hastily, hoping to divert the armadillo before she could sink into the depressive quagmire Espio seemed to cart around with her like some kind of funeral cape, "as things stand, on the other hand, she's up and running again and everything from here on in, tempting fate as this might be", he crossed his fingers and murmured what might have been an incantation against bad luck under his breath, "I reckon we're starting to get out of the woods right about now".

"And not before time; mind you, if we did happen to get stuck in a thicket", Mighty joked, grinning broadly as she pointed at herself with her thumb, "at least we've got the best tree-pusher in the business to get us out on the path again". Caught somewhat unawares by the unusual pun by his compadre, Charmy had to think for a minute before he got the joke and laughed in turn,

"Something like that, though just make sure you only rip up the ones with a red tape around them; Knuckles'll skin us if we get rid of the wrong ones; oh, hi Vec", Mighty turned to look around in her seat as the bee's point of vision suddenly swivelled over her shoulder, "something up?"

For a moment the crocodile didn't answer and the bee began to feel a little nervous; _he looks like something heavy just fell and landed between his ears_; but luckily that moment of indecision was quickly blown away as Vector slumped down in his favourite seat, legs sprawled out in front of him and arms splayed over the arm rest as he blew a deep sigh from the very bottom of the barrel of his chest, head lolling to the side where Charmy sat awaiting his answer,

"Nah Charm, nuthin's up, I just 'ad an epiphany, tha's all".

"Sounds painful", Mighty chipped in from her seat on the sidelines; Vector simply chuckled at her askew observation for a second before elaborating on his previous statement,

"Well it weren't, it were a good'un this epiphany; I jus' realised wha's feelin' so diff'runt 'bout this place now", his hands raised, pointing out the whole room all three of them were sat in now and as the other two Chaotix present were looking around he explained, "this, this 'ole atmosphere feels so diff'runt now, an' I reckon I know why. 'Cause, thanks ta you Might", he nodded in her direction and she squirmed in her seat, trying not to go red in the light of praise for what she considered to be an essential service rather than anything else, "Esp's finally live an' kickin' about now. Now she's off an' runnin' wi'the rest o'us again it's just lightened the 'ole place up, don't ya think, or am I wrong 'bout the 'ole thing?"

As he'd expected, there was a short pause before he received any kind of answer to his almost philosophical statement, Charmy and Mighty both glancing around them as though expecting to see a barometer nearby pointing out the sudden decrease in pressure in bold, glaring letters. In the end however, it fell to the usually quieter one of the two to finally pluck up the courage to answer his statement,

"You know", Mighty stroked her bottom lip as she falteringly found both her words and her inner resolve, "I think you might be right there Vec, it does feel different here now. What you think Charm?"

"Well anything had to better than what it was", he quipped with characteristic aplomb before turning slightly more serious, "though I have to say, hand on heart, yes I'd be prepared to bet my bottom crest that the mood's a heck of a lot lighter now than it was a few days, in fact forget that, even a few hours ago; similarly I know for a fact we've got no-one but you to thank for that Might", once more the armadillo found herself almost squirming at the praise before suddenly the bee was more business-like, clapping his hands together crisply before beckoning both his other team mates in closer, a slight huddle forming as he made his last point, "but before we start resting on our laurels, we better remember that it's now up to all of us to make sure it stays that way, and by doing that I mean we'd better make sure she doesn't start off back down that slippery slope again".

"Fair point", Mighty chipped in a second later before asking the unavoidable question, "but how…?"

"I've thought of that already", the bee had his answers almost as if he was reading them from a crib sheet, "basically it's all just a question of busyness as far as I can see it".

"Business – well I 'ppreciate yer outta the box thinkin' Charm but 'ow'd we set this'un up as a private enterprise?"

"Not business Vec, busyness", the bee explained patiently, almost sketching his plans on the air as he made his ideas plain as day, "what it boils down to is the fact that Esp got dragged into the pit she was in because we, you and I that is", he pointed the crocodile out again before carrying on, "gave her too much time and space to do it in – I know what you're going to say, better that than forcing her to cope with something that was too fresh and too sore for her to deal with right then, and I agree with that, up to a point. And it's an important point this one"; _not least because, now I've seen it, I can't believe the pair of us missed it so badly_; but they had and Charmy was forced to shove that issue to the back of his mind for now; _right now we've got to understand how to strike a happy balance for Espio getting some breathing space without going into total recluse mode at the same time_; "because we let her go too far. Because we let her run roughshod over the two of us, she never figured out how miffed we were getting and…"

"And she walled herself in – I understand Charm", this time the bee's logic had correlated almost exactly with her own and Mighty was quick to show they'd reached a mutual understanding, "but I still say that was the lesser of two evils, at least as far as she was concerned with the two of you. Anyway", a smile split across the armadillo's lips as she shrugged her powerful shoulders, swiping the air with one fist as though smashing something in front of her down, "that wall is now a pile of brick dust for now so I wouldn't worry about it too much".

"But I would"; Mighty looked over gobsmacked as she found Vector of all Mobians opposing her – even as the worst of time she and he usually rubbed shoulders and got along just fine, "I'can see where buzz-boy's comin' frum now; she might be outside the wall fer now bu' we gotta make sure she don't get the chance ta 'rect another prison 'round 'erself. I take it tha's where yer busyness comes in Charm?" The bee nodded, smiling more broadly now as he warmed to his theme,

"Right then and right there Vec; what I mean is we can't let Esp settle down to his-stroke-her old bitter, nasty and downright obnoxious self – as far as I'm concerned now our job is to make sure she's kept busy enough so she doesn't have time to dwell on the past, but not so busy that she can't think about it from time to time. With a bit of luck", he took time out to lean to the side and tap the wooden top of the table with his fingers at this point, hopefully collecting some good karma from the ancient gesture as he outlined the final stage of his plan, "she'll actually start forgetting what happened over Christmas and start looking forwards instead of back; in an ideal world she'll completely forget the fact that she's missing a Y-chromosome until it rolls around to her next time of the month – maybe by then she'll be a bit more used to the idea?"

"She will be if I've got anything to do with it", Mighty chipped in, looking slightly more thoughtful now, a smile caressing the edges of her lips as she tapped the tips of her fingers together, "and as things stand, I reckon I can make a bit of a headway in this business thing you've got going Charm. Vec", the crocodile looked over, "when's the next time her and I have got time off together, I know I'm working tomorrow night so that's a no-go". Not quite sure what she was up to but trusting her all the same, the Chaotix leader sat back in his seat for a minute and closed his eyes, the timetable he helped draw up with the guardians every week flashing up behind his eyes and, after a minute or two of mnemonic refocusing, allowed him to pick out a certain stop-gap in the timescale that had been thus far agreed with their employers,

"This Friday's 'bout yer earliest; why? Not plannin' on draggin' 'er out fer a girl's night out surely?" He chuckled a little at his own joke as Mighty pulled a bitter face,

"No fear, but you're right in a way, we do need to go out together at some stage – I need to take her down the local shops, and before you say anything it is a need", the armadillo raised a hand as Charmy looked on incredulous, "I need to take her shopping for some new clothes; I know she's probably not going to want to wear any and, fair's fair, most of the time she won't need to, but from what I've heard so far there's going to be a couple of times she's not going to have a choice in the matter – it's not fair on the rest of us for her not to cover up when she's having woman's problems". _True in a way I suppose_; and, like most of the things Mighty came out with if truth were told, there was an awful lot of logic inherent in that statement; _though I spy a sticking point at this juncture_;

"Going to want a hand with that Mighty? I mean", as her head swung in his direction Charmy made to hastily clarify his earlier offer, "chances are she's not going to be particularly receptive to the idea, so a couple of extra helping hands can't hurt right?"

"I have to say I reckon it'd probably work out better if it were just me", the armadillo drawled slowly for a minute as she summed up his thoughts in her head, her conclusion pretty accurate but, as always, she was careful to leave the bee a crumb of hope despite shooting down his idea for the most part, "after all, Esp might be many things but a fashionesta certainly ain't one of them; might be that the fewer of us there are around the more comfortable she'll feel. You never know though, I might be wrong", as she'd expected, the bee brightened at such promise of hope as Mighty shrugged her broad shoulders, "that'll be mostly up to Espio though, and what she's thinking most of the time well, you're about as in the dark as I am".

"Tell me about it", the insect said in a light but grave voice before stretching with a sudden yawn, looking around blearily for the nearest clock; _crikey it is getting on, and I'm on the early shift tomorrow_; "anyway, this'll all have to wait until tomorrow, right now I'm hitting the hay for the night". Following his lead, Vector also looked up and realised that yes, nice as the day had been it was now almost completely over; slapping both hands down on the armrests of his seat, the crocodile heaved himself upright,

"Sounds like a plan Charm, we all betta turn in", stretching up until the tips of his fingers grazed the ceiling, the reptile cudgelled some last residues of energy from his weary body to stomp over to where Mighty was still sat, obviously enjoying a slight repose before having to move once more, "first off though, we gotta say thanks ta you Might; you were right ya know, we really did need ta blow off a bitta steam". She turned her head away as much as she was able to, unsettled by the praise and not wanting to risk them seeing her blush,

"Aw forget it…"

"No chance", getting in on the act, Charmy rolled up to the front of her seat and flicked her closest ear with his finger, "thanks a lot shelly, means a lot you know, people looking out for us all like that". The armadillo's bale glare at both his antics and the flagrant breach of the taboo surrounding her most hated pet name lasted only until she saw the smile on his face; any ill-feeling she might have harboured evaporated in the face of that sort of positivity and, rather than slapping the bee clean into next week, she found herself smiling at him in kind,

"Just as well I do, can't think of anyone else who'd look out for you horrible shower", just as she had, both the other Mobians in the room glowered for a split-second before realising the inherent humour in her words and not being able to hold it any more, "still, get an use the bathroom the pair of you, I want to listen to the news before I make it to bed".

With all the necessary arrangements made and carried out in their own time, the three members of the Chaotix cleaned up and made it to their own rooms, a lot of the recent worry and stress worn away from them in the light of a day filled with joy and merriment. As all within that house that night were swept away by slumber to dream their small or great dreams, none of them, not right at that moment, could have been damned for not even giving the occupant of the smallest room in the home a moments thought and therefore not uncovering the nest of vipers that threatened even now to poison their good intentions utterly.

XXX

Upon regaining full consciousness her first action was to immediately check her left hand.

_Good_; Espio let out a breath of equal parts foreboding and excitement as she realised all had gone smoothly; of the cuts that had run freely last night nothing now remained save a few thin lines of crusted scabs; _covered by my gloves no-one should be able to pick them out. Maybe next time_; she found herself musing, again smiling as she felt the part of herself she hated more than any other recoil at the thought of yet more pain being inflicted on the vulnerable point she'd located on it; _I should go the other way, make a sort of grid pattern. Just don't go straight up or straight down, it'll bleed too much and be noticeable_. That last point was a valid one; due to her extensive ninja training she had studied anatomy at least to a rudimentary degree and therefore knew that the blood vessels in the hands were both near the surface and ran downwards towards the tips of the fingers – slicing along the length of one of them would therefore cause too much damage for her body to easily repair and therefore increased the chances of her getting caught out too much. Quickly sliding out of bed, she rolled to her feet and snatched her gloves up from the top of the dressing table, a feeling of almost invincibility coupled with serene peace flooding out over her as she covered her left hand with the opaque material; let them try to stay her course and her hand, she knew now that all their efforts were in vain – nothing anyone could do was going to stop her forcing herself to achieve as close to physical perfection as a mortal body would allow her to get.

Her good mood lasted until she made to exit out of her bedroom; almost as her fingers found the handle she brought herself up short, the normal mask of indifference dropping into place over her face as she made herself ready to face the new day and, she scowled for a brief instant as she realised who else she was going to have to deal with as well, the Mobians who inhabited this brave new world. Breathing in evenly with her eyes closed for a moment, the chameleon refocused on her goal and realised that overall it was quite a simple one; _all I have to do is make sure no-one finds out that I'm spiting their attempts to force me to conform to normality – that shouldn't pose a challenge_; as her eyes opened she smiled slyly, her thought making its most obvious conclusion; _its in my nature to hide things from others, and my training will have helped that ability no end. If I don't want them to see something_; she shrugged and opened the door; _they'll never see it_.

XXX

It was actually quite a warm day, she was quite surprised; at least this way she wouldn't have to waste any of her precious time in bed waiting for her body to heat up. _Cold blood_; she shook her head, glancing down at herself with something like a sneer; _what a waste of Mother Nature's time that idea was – should have died out with the dinosaurs_. Still, it hadn't and, much as she'd have liked to, there was absolutely no chance she was going to be able to do anything about that flaw in her nature; however that was absolutely no excuse not to work on everything else she could make better both within and without her mind. _And I can function in the cold to a limited degree, certainly more than Vector can_; that was certainly some encouragement she could take solace in, though of course she'd have to build on such a platform before she could be prideful of it; _I wonder if it was the meditation that let me do that. If so, what would be the best way to make sure…?_

"Esp?"

She didn't jump and that was a good thing; being caught out alone was bad enough but having shown shock or surprise at such a sudden voice would have been unforgivable. Instead, after a second of recapturing lost breath, she turned to look over her shoulder and saw Charmy at her back, the bee looking at her expectantly, though not without a degree of trepidation as she snorted at his statement,

"Obviously, unless there's another chameleon in the Chaotix I'm in the dark about".

"I hope not, one of you's usually enough", the insect quipped back, obviously trying to rile her up enough to snap back at him but she refused to be drawn, forcing him to carry on a second later, deflated that attempt to get under her scales, "anyway, I'm off to work; you've got today off by the way, so enjoy it".

"I will"; _just as well_; Charmy thought privately as he slipped past his tight-lipped team mate, nipping into his shared room for a minute before heading to the shrine; _I'd hate to have to see Vec and Mighty have to force you to have some fun again_; as he rifled around his cupboard and under his bed, trying desperately but ultimately failing to locate the spare pair of shoelaces he kept around just in case, as was the case now in fact, the ones on his boots started to fray badly, he called back,

"Okay, well, anyway", as he re-emerged into the hallway again slightly dustier than before, he shrugged and headed off down the stairs, "I'm off; see you in the afternoon if you're about".

"I'm not planning anything", the chameleon assured him, not quite lying as she glanced down meaningfully at her left hand again, already adding one to the tally of the punishments for today as the one who had made it necessary to do so, not looking over his shoulder and therefore missing her sour grimace at the weaknesses of her own flesh, pulled open the door to the cellar and disappeared down the darkened flight of stairs.

XXX

There was something in the air, she could sense it almost as though she were psychic; from the second her toe crossed the threshold and onto the kitchen floor she was aware that something, and probably nothing good, had been plotted against her. Trying to keep her face studiously neutral at the same time as work out what the two Mobians left in the house could be planning between them, even if she could hear from here Vector was currently in the lounge getting his daily morning cartoon fix. To her chagrin Mighty was giving nothing away, the armadillo simply nodding a good morning before returning to reading the paper splayed out on the table in front of her; _but then, she always was difficult to read – she only ever had half a face to start with due to that shell_. Still, that was something she could and would work on, and besides she had figured out that something was afoot and could therefore logically conclude that she was the target of whatever scheme was being plotted, so she had done well in the grand scheme of things – it was too much to ask for even the greatest ninjitsu masters to size up every situation the second it was put in front of them, though admittedly some of them throughout history had been able to do just that. But on the other hand patience was a virtue and Rome hadn't been built in a day; as long as she improved gradually over time then no matter how long the path or how many years it took to follow it to its conclusion, the simple fact that she knew she'd reach the goal in the end would be enough to sustain her until then.

The blow came, as she knew it would eventually do, as Vector came slouching back in from the lounge; just to throw a spanner in the works, however, Espio decided to make the first move,

"So"; _thought that would throw you_; hiding her sarcastic pleasure with a small degree of difficulty, the chameleon carried on as though oblivious to her stupefied audience, "just seen Charmy off – who's on the afternoon?"

"One o'the others, though Knucks mentioned 'e needed me an' Might down the reef soon as", Vector answered a second later, daring to hope a little that his oldest friend was beginning to thaw, just a little, in the aftermath of the eruption Mighty had forced down her throat the previous morning, "might's well get it over wi'soon as, 'ey Might?"

"Hmm? Oh, oh yeah 'course", the armadillo stuttered, still not quite able to believe Espio of all Mobians had been the one to break the silence, "however, if I were you Esp"; _but you're not me_; "I wouldn't go making too many plans this Friday, we've both got the afternoon off then and, well, let's just say we need a bit of time on our own, away from the other pair here".

"No, you can say that", Espio's voice was as sharp and challenging as an unsheathed blade, questing and darting here and there until it drew the blood of the answer she was seeking, "I want to know exactly what you're on about". Mighty flinched but just for an instant – after that she quickly recovered her courage enough to look up square into the chameleon's face,

"Okay then, we're going shopping the pair of us", she left a pause, just a tiny one but in that infinitesimal second, as she saw the edge beginning to drop off the edge of the chameleon's smile she knew she was onto something here, and something good at that, "because the basic fact of the matter is you can't go around wearing next to nothing any more, not at certain times anyway, you see where I'm coming from?"

XXX

In perfect honest it was all too obvious what the armadillo's idea was and; _damn_; it was yet another example of her bizarrely twisted logic working obliquely. Much as she would have liked to Espio was unable to answer her team mate on this point – she wished to go through the nightmare that had been the most recent Chaotix Christmas about as much as the other two wanted to risk seeing such a grisly performance again.

"Sounds fair enough"; she spoke almost without her lips moving – Mighty's face fell a touch and that was enough, the slightest slip in her emotional defences that she could exploit without mercy, "oh use your brains Mich, not that you've got many", there was a warning growl from somewhere off to the right where Vector was obviously loitering but, ignoring him, the chameleon pressed on regardless, "what you've said is true; what happened earlier can not happen again – I didn't recognise the symptoms and therefore it caught everyone by surprise; I don't know how many times I have to tell you, but a ninja is never caught by the same trick twice". The armadillo gave a dismissive snort, returning scorn with like scorn as she answered darkly,

"I always thought that was because any ninja stupid enough to get caught got executed, but I digress", she amended smoothly as Espio's eyes narrowed dangerously, "you're in on Friday, I can count that as a given can I?"

"You can", she gave her word grudgingly, but gave it all the same, "I need the right tools for the trade, and you've got a better idea of what I'm going to need than I have, so let's get it done. Anyway, as things stand and that's sorted", she stood up, looking towards the door, "I'm going for a morning jog, there shouldn't be too many people about; I'll eat when I get back". With that, the need for a farewell removed by the bland statement of her intentions, the chameleon pushed off the wall she was leaning on and headed out, not even waving over her shoulder as her internal clock began ticking down the time left before she had another test to go through, another barrier to scramble over in her quest to adapt, overcome and eventually supersede every barrier placed before her.

XXX

It was only when the front door banged in the back door that she dared let out the breath she was holding and look around at Vector, shrugging,

"Well, that was relatively painless".

"Given another coupla minutes it wouldna bin", the crocodile growled, only now dropping his eyes from the door Espio had left through, "bit like you now really; don' care 'ow rough she's feelin', no need ta try an' drag the rest o'us down".

"Yeah, but she's still the same old Espio, and anyway look on the bright side"; _bright side?_; Vector glanced at his team mate amused; _if I remember rightly you've been the last one to say anything about the old Espio were a bright side_; "at least she's agreed to giver this a shot. Of course", the armadillo shrugged again, "saying she's going there and actually getting her to buy anything there are two different things". Vector snorted dismissively, rubbing the calloused knuckles of one hand with the fingertips of the other,

"Don' worry; if y'ave any trubble jus' give me a bell – if she messes ya'round I'll make sure she walks outta the dress store lookin' like Barbie's ugly sister, even if I 'ave ta staple 'er clobber on 'round 'er". Mighty sniggered helplessly, the image he'd explained so clearly parading in her mind like a catwalk model before she managed to get something like self-control back into her brain and she managed her answer,

"Waste of good staples; anyway, I don't know about you but I reckon Knuckles'll be waiting if we leave it any longer".

"Too right; ah", making his mind up Vector gave up on the idea of a cooked breakfast after looking lingeringly at the toaster for a minute or so, "I'll 'ave sommat when I get there – good ol' Lava Reef", he smiled fondly at the name of the place as Mighty rolled her eyes and shucked on her coat, "central-'eatin' provider an' dinner-cooker all in one, wha' more could a croc like me ask fer?"

"After listening to you go on; how long a list do you want?"

"One not as long as yers'd be; oh yeah, a weight bar, an' an aero-bike, an' wouldna rowin' machine look just divine near…"

"Okay, okay, point taken", Mighty grudgingly accepted, more to stop the crocodile's mangled impersonation of her voice than anything else, "let's move it, you're driving and it'll be rush hour soon, or whatever counts for it in this city".

"No' much, put it like tha'; righty-o then, of t'earn an 'onest crust we go…" As his rhyme broke down into a whistling tune, the crocodile followed his warm-blooded team mate out of the door and pulled it shut behind him, snagging the keys to the van with the ease of long practice a second later as he emerged blinking into the weak sunlight of a fresh, new day in Echidnopolis.

XXX

_Right then_; looking up at the ugly stone monolith in front of her the chameleon felt her already bad mood darken even further; _let's just go it, get something off the shelves and get the hell out of this dump._ Following in the heavy, graceless thumps that counted as her erstwhile companion's footsteps, Espio brushed past where the armadillo was holding the door open with her gaze fixed firmly on the floor, snarling something that might have counted as a thank-you from the corner of her mouth as Mighty, studiously her lack of airs and graces, looked around with a smile,

"Okay then, got here no sweat and the store we need is", just to be sure she craned her neck up to peer at the electronic billboard above her head, pointing out helpfully what was located where, "just off this way. Come on, I know you want to be here as much as I want to be baby-sitting you".

"You have no idea", Espio muttered, reluctantly falling in step behind her and occasionally zapping the unfeeling back of the armadillo's shell with her harshest glare; _believe me the only reason I'm here is because demeaning as this might be, compared to what happened when you were gone, which was a holiday for me as much as it was you I might add, it's the much lesser of two evils._ Reciting a calming mantra under her breath the ninja kept her eyes focussed only on the path ahead; all else rushed past her in a blur of colour that she ignored totally – there were no distractions in her way, she made sure of that with both her focussed mind and, should that fail her, well…making sure the armadillo wasn't looking she rubbed her left hand, the memory of pain an incentive not to let her mind wander again. Indeed, she was so focussed in going forwards that when Mighty stopped she nearly ended up walking into the back of her; stifling a curse at the armadillo's lack of warning and stilling her heartbeat simultaneously Espio glanced around to see where she was; the sight of the store before her did nothing but increase her shame about being here.

Through the glass windows of the display case before her, she could see echidnas of all shapes and sizes browsing around in the aisles in front of them, occasionally picking something off one of the rails and either adding it to the basket or replacing it where it had come from; _sheep. Air-headed bimbos_; Espio's thoughts were so strong it was a wonder the glass before her didn't shatter as she threw mental blow after mental blow at it; _you're all nothing but slaves, slaves to your own wants and desires. I want more than that, I'll always want to be better than that – it's the difference between me and the rest of you creatures_; never before had the chameleon felt such revulsion for the sex she'd denied for so long; _all you're interested in is what state your hair's in and if what your wearing sets your fur colour off nicely – none of you have any idea what's really important in this life…_; a sudden touch on her arm nearly made her jump. Reflexively the ninja disciple reached for one of the almost-invisible holsters that held her throwing stars, not an ideal weapon in close quarters but better than nothing, only to remember too late that she wasn't wearing them; for this she didn't need to be armed; _damn!_;

"Esp? You all right there; thought you'd zoned out for a minute". Mighty could have had no idea just how much Espio wanted to let her tongue go at that opening and give her imbecilic team mate the answer she truly deserved but, despite such righteous anger, the chameleon was prevented from following through on this desire by the basic fact that the armadillo was right – she had stopped in one place, 'zoned out' as common parlance described it, and an incautious ninja was a dead ninja; had that been a mission she'd have failed at that point.

"Fine"; shrugging off Mighty's fingers, Espio squared her shoulders and nodded, "let's just go and sort this out". Without waiting for an answer she moved off, already mentally preparing for what would have to happen tonight, a pointed reminder that failure was not to be tolerated by her creed; _too lax, far too lax_; glancing down at her hands, still covered by the gloves, the chameleon felt the ghost of a smile possess her lips, a slight silver lining to this dark cloud she was having to walk under for now; _but, maybe this does have a bright side, this place – the material I can buy here will make sure the marks of my testing aren't seen by anyone else – they'd just never understand._

XXX

_She's been too quiet, far too quiet_; there was something wrong with this picture as a whole and try as she Might, Mighty just couldn't put her finger on it; _she's just not right – something about her isn't adding up and I don't know what it is. Okay, compared to what the other two've been putting up with it's been a bed of roses over the past few days_; and it had – Espio had been almost cheerful and pleasant to be around as far as it was possible for someone as borderline-sociopathic for someone like her to be normally, but still Mighty had her suspicions, and she knew she wasn't the only one. Still for the sake of both Espio's sanity and her temperament the armadillo had refrained from making any sort of inquiry into this unusually-affable behaviour for the moment – right now the two of them had a common goal, and that goal was to get out of here as soon as was Mobianly possible after buying what she considered to be the essential supplies for her reptilian comrade. Coming to a sudden stop, the armadillo rubbed her forehead for a minute as Espio looked over her shoulder,

"Right, well this is the sort of thing I think you'll need, and", before she could muster any protest Mighty had raised a finger to make a very important and, hopefully for Espio, very sugary point that would make the bitter pill she was having to swallow by coming here a little more bearable, "good news for you, you won't have to wear them all the time if you don't want to".

"I was aware of that", the chameleon replied coolly, glancing around disdainfully this way and that along the racks of clothes that surrounded her now, "I'll only need this sort of junk when it's around my time, and fortunately due to Mother Nature's benign gaze, I won't have to cover up anything above my waist".

"Why's that such a problem?" Mighty wondered allowed before catching a glimpse of Espio's expression and hastily defending her rogue question, "Just curious?"

"For the very simple reason", Espio began to explain with a heavy sigh, weary at having to explain something to the uninitiated that appeared as plain as day to her, "that the clothing you wear interferes with full body movement; not all that much I'll grant you, but in my field", she looked again at the options apparently available to her in this place; _not much of a choice really is there here_; "a half-inch can mean the difference between life and death; the old saying goes that we balance on the blade's edge, a single slip can cut either way". Mighty whistled, eyes rolling for a minute before they lit up, alighting on something that she thought fitted the bill for Espio's particular needs at this time,

"Sounds a bit brutal if I'm honest; still, going on what you're looking for", with a flourish she picked something off the rail and held it out for the chameleons' inspection, "these might do the trick; I know they're hard-wearing, they're not very long so won't get in the way too much when you're doing you're creeping around…"

"They're blue".

"…and they come in a range of colours", Mighty reeled off, not quite knocked out of her stride by either Espio's sceptical expression or unexpected comment, "so, you don't think blue's your colour and, personally, I agree with you; just go for something else".

"You misunderstand me Mighty"; _huh?_; having never been able to conceal anything to do with her emotions at all, the armadillo lowered the sports shorts she held, looking on in intense concern at the chameleon's faintly-troubled expression, "these shorts, in fact clothes of any sort, while I'm wearing them they negate the greatest advantage a ninja can have, that I have".

_Great, do I have to spell it out for you?_; the chameleon's ire rose unpleasantly before, just before she was forced to disgorge the supposed secret Mighty couldn't work out on her own, the other Mobians' expression lit up like a Christmas tree and she covered her mouth with one hand,

"Of course", she whispered, voice muffled from speaking through her palm, "you can't change colour can you? I mean", she gestured at the shorts she still held, the enormity of what the chameleon was trying to say finally sinking in, "these make you stand out more; if you've got to go under the forest floor for instance…"

"I'll stand out", Espio finished for her; for a minute Mighty was a little flummoxed by this before recalling something her own mother had told her when the inevitable had begun to happen in her own childhood; _and it's as true now as it was then – thanks mum, you always were one to give it to me straight and take it straight from me_;

"Well, sorry but that's life; tough and unfair but that's just the way it is – look Esp", the chameleon glanced up as Mighty let her expression soften a little, her arms folding in an expression of world-weary acceptance, "it's not ideal, it never is for any woman, but the fact of the matter is you've just got to put up with it, same way I have, same way Rouge has, same way every woman on this planet has to deal with the hand fate dealt them when daddy's X-chromosome forced its way in to gatecrash the party. At least in your case you do have a couple of bright sides; like you said you don't have to wear anything up top, you'll only have to wear these when the time comes and that'll only be a fortnight at most, and to cap it all you don't get as many a year as I do, so overall I'd say you got as sweet a deal as you could wangle out of this. So", gambit made and decided on she threw the shorts she'd picked up forwards, Espio snatching them out of the air with well-practised ease, "get in the booth and see how they fit; don't worry about the tail-hole, we'll have to sort that out when we get home – well go on", she gestured towards the empty changing rooms, "I don't want to stay here any longer than you do. The sooner you're happy, as impossible as that might be, the sooner we get out of this place".

XXX

_There was nothing to be done_; even as she formed the thought it echoed hollowly in her own head, the dull reverberations mocking as they fell around her ears again; _she is correct and there is no shame in following the correct path_. But if that was so, why did she feel such shame in being in here, sliding this smooth fabric up her legs and donning clothes she swore she'd never have any need for? Her breathing came harsh and ragged from her lungs and she was forced to blink back tears furiously, the alien sensation of something underneath her loins and tail almost bringing bile to the back of her throat as she nearly relived the hated part of her mind again. She was having to go through all this again just to please others – truly what came around went around, only she remained where she was to be hit again and again by the same hammer-blows. _But I won't let them win_; again, as always when she needed it, her thirst rose up and almost consumed her, banishing her woes by the simple dint of not allowing her to think of anything beyond her burning need to supersede everything that had gone before her; _I might not be able to dodge this, the ninja's favoured defence, but_; she pulled up the waistband of the shorts so hard the seam nearly split, fury lending her more strength that she normally possessed – fury at the world for doing what it had to her but mostly fury at herself, anger that she hadn't been strong enough to stand up and stop it happening when she'd had the chance. The tide was so fast and so strong she shuddered, remaining motionless for a minute as the righteous wrath blazed through her like a sweet wine laced with bitter venom, the strength of the combined brew all that allowed her to step forwards and thrust the curtain aside, come back into the world again wearing the demeaning things that clamped around her thighs even now.

To the outside world where Mighty raised an eyebrow and made a meaninglessly-complimentary phrase, Espio smiled in her new clothes; inside her own mind she seethed and railed against the new shackles the world had forced her into.

XXX

"So come on then"; _playing him like a fiddle_; just the corner of an eye at where the bee was now sat with his hands clasped together told the crocodile exactly what he wanted to know; Charmy was hanging on his every word and every second that ticked by was torture for him, "what happened when they saw – they didn't open up did they?"

"Nah, they ain't tha' dumb", Vector informed his colleague, knocking back another slug of his drink as he did so, "despite wha' the news might say, they ain't all blood-crazy maniacs; Julie shoulda taught ya that much; well", seeing the bee's suddenly disbelieving expression the crocodile was forced to correct himself, "some o'the time any'ow".

"Yeah, usually when Shadow's not around", the insect quipped before moving back to the meat of the issue, "but they picked you up; you said there were about ten of them right? What happened next?"

"No' much really; no, I mean it"; _yeah right_; Charmy wasn't going to fall for that old trick – he knew the crocodile in front of him had a tall tale to tell and was just dragging it out in order to string him along as long as he could – his body language must have said as much as Vector tried to explain his point of view, "we saw them, they saw us an' it all went quiet; I couldn't do much 'cause I 'ad a beam in me 'ands bu' Knucks were doin' enough t'make 'em think twice jus' by glarin' at 'em, an' 'e 'ad Might there too jus' in case things got nasty".

"Fair enough", the bee said slowly after thinking for a minute; _yeah, if that pair were giving me the evil eye I probably wouldn't want to start anything either_; "but what the heck were a squad of Dark Legionnaires doing in Lava Reef in the first place?"

"The 'undred buck question Charm; Knucks asked 'em first chance 'e got", Vector shrugged, scratching the underside of his jaw with an air of musing enlightenment, "turned out they were there scoutin' the place out t'see if there were anythin' worth 'avin' down there; minin' it out like", he elaborated as Charmy drew a blank for a minute. The bees' eyes swelled in his mind, mere visions of what might have happened if anyone, least of all the Dark Legion, so much as sneezed in some of the older, less safe tunnels of the subterranean passageways of that tectonic region enough to make his eyes water,

"Mine, in that place?" As Vector nodded he shivered, cold despite himself, "Tell me you managed to talk them out of it?"

"More or less, Might did most o'the talkin' though; still, dun think they believed us 'til one of 'em stuck some sorta pole in the floor an' said sommat 'bout the seismologic activity bein' off th' scale far as normal ground were concerned, tha'were 'nough t'get the leader o'the bunch convinced, said it weren't worth the risk explorin' further. Shame really", the crocodile chuckled, "woulda loved t'ave shown 'im the Lava falls".

"Just as long as you didn't go shoving him in", the bee reprimanded, though before Vector's expression could get any more mortally wounded he relented to his earlier question, "so, that got you shot of them, telling them it wasn't worth poking their noses in where they were likely to get singed off?" Again the crocodile gave a gruff snort of mirth, though this time it was a bit more embarrassed than before, the hand that had been scratching his chin now migrating around the rub the back of his head as he thought about his answer this time,

"Well, no' quite; they left fine like, bu'not before they'd given us 'and sortin' out the mess". Charmy blinked, looking agog at this statement as though the crocodile had just told him nettle blooms were always full of pollen,

"You're pulling my leg right? The Legion, helping out the guardian – no chance!"

"An' again, look at the Julie 'xample", the crocodile pointed out, succinctly trumping Charmy's ace, "nah, the boss, think 'e were a lieutenant, quite an 'igh non-comm officer fer the job I thought, said thanks fer makin' 'is life easy an' maybe savin' a couple of lives down there – think 'bout it, las' thing ya wanna do is go stumblin' 'round the reef without knowin' what's were"; _fair enough point_; and it was when the bee thought about it – possibly more than anything else on Angel Island, Lava Reef was the area that could prove most hazardous, or even fatal, to life and limb; _how Sonic and Tails made it through in one piece I'll never know – I wouldn't go there on my own even now_; "so 'e got 'is bods on the job wi'us. Didn' do much beyond fetch an' carry, but it 'elped us out overall; nice guy actually, name was summat like Koka, 'ave t'see if Jules 'members 'im at all, bu' can' fault 'em, they all put their backs inta it when we asked 'em to".

As Charmy digested the story the crocodile finished his drink, running over in his mind what was going on now; as far a she knew, Esp was covering the shrine, Mighty should be halfway to the pool get some exercise at the same time as wash the lingering soot out of her fur while he was just kicking back and filling Charmy in on the days events, the bee's morning have been occupied with the early shift as Knuckles had been otherwise engaged. Considering where things had been for the past few weeks, especially with the chameleon taking to the previously-heathen idea of actually covering up with a lot less strife than he'd originally planned for, Vector gave himself grounds for cautious optimism for the future, though such planning was interrupted a little when he heard Charmy voice again,

"So, any idea how much longer you'll need to go into the hot stuff; longer than you thought right?"

"Too right; Knuckles thought we'd be done in a coupla days, now it's more like weeks at least", the crocodile nodded, standing up and stretching up as he did so, "still, I ain't complainin'; least it's 'ot down there. Mind you, touchin' wood as I am ta say this", and he was, one hand knocking the top of the table he was sat at to ward off any potential bad karma that might have been lurking nearby, "I reckon we might be on th'way ta brighter pastures than we've been in recently, an' not before time if y'ask me".

"And me", the bee agreed vigorously, "never thought I'd say this mind, but most of it's down to Esp; Mighty must have been right you know"; _don't be rotten you_; even as he finished the thought though Vector realised he'd lost his battle not to smile – chortling aloud, he had no choice but to listen in as the bee finished, "Espio must have finally gotten her head screwed on right, and just as well or I might have been forced to unscrew it myself".

"Buzz-boy", waving his hands pathetically in a feeble gesture to try and get the bee to relent before he was reduced to helpless tatters of mirth, Vector was forced to gasp his answer in fits and starts, "I'd 'ave loved to'a seen you try, jus' once; ya neva know, I might 'ave even rung th'ambulence yer'd need fer afterwards".

"Do wonders for my self-confidence you do, you know?"

"Nice t'be 'ppreciated, now", he nudged his coffee mug, a serious gleam entering his eyes as Charmy huffed and strolled forwards to scoop up the empty receptacle, "what's a croc like me gotta do t'get a new brew 'round 'ere?"

XXX

"Hurry up Vector", the crocodile in question wasn't sure whether to laugh or be cross at the thin, almost sing-song voice that addressed him from the passenger seat; flicking his eyes sideways and seeing the way Mighty was virtually bouncing around in her seat with an expression of pained constipation on her face, he wouldn't have been able to call himself Mobian if he hadn't given a comment of some kind. Drawing on his best maternal voice, the head of the Chaotix drew in a deep breath and sighed,

"Now Mich, if yer'd gone 'fore we set off…"; _and off we go on one_; though she usually had a cool head on her shoulders this scenario was in no way usual and because of that the crocodile wasn't at all surprised to find a lot of flak heading his way at high velocity and loud volume,

"That's no option for me Vec you know that", pausing only to exchange the hand pressed firmly between her legs, Mighty went on – anything to distract from the awful internal pressure threatening to rupture her bladder, "I was fine then; must have been that last handful of sweetberries…stop it!" Barely suppressing his grin, Vector desisted in the low whistling noise he was making between his teeth; with an agonised groan the armadillo flopped over, forehead almost to her knees as the whistling made her predicament all the more pressing,

"You cruel sod", her muffled voice reached his ears and he had to fight to stop himself cracking up, "I swear I'm going to batter you when I can stand up straight again!"

"Aww, poor wittle Mighty, so desperate an' so silly she fergets th' basic rule"; _what, what are you – oh nooo!_; forced to sit upright Mighty virtually clawed at the door to the side of her, frantic to be let out of this prison as its progress began to slow down, "I control th' brake pedal, I make th' rules, kapisch?"

"Just go", she begged, almost crying by this point, "I mean it; I am about to seriously embarrass myself and take it from me if that happens because you're too damned slow getting home I ain't buying a new can of air freshener". _Ah_; that was a point he hadn't considered; _when you put it like that…_;

"'Kay, 'kay, yer've got me convinced; jus' 'ang on a coupla minutes", swinging a hard left the crocodile deftly steered his chariot back towards its stable, its ailing passenger's metronomic motions up and down an added incentive to lend him a little more speed, "nearly 'ome".

XXX

_This one_; nothing moved in her face as the adrenaline raced around her system again, the shock of cold steel puckering, then piercing her scales and skin kicked off a pain-fuelled high; _for failing to predict the low sweep kick – humiliation by that bat is no longer tolerated, I will teach you that!_ The chameleon's gaze never wavered, not even for a second, as she stared straight ahead, almost through her own reflection as though daring it to show some resentment of the treatment she was forcing upon it. Despite the pain in the forefront of her head, in the back of her mind the chameleon was aware that she had improved; in her most recent sparring match she'd won quite convincingly, knocking Rouge down five times to one – the bat had even gone so far as to compliment her for being on top of her game; _as if her words mean anything. There is no such place as second place_; slowly lifting the edge of the thin steel blade from the back of her hand, Espio looked upon her conclusion and dismissed it in almost the same minute; _there can be only one way to win, and that is flawlessly. Now, come_; having glanced down for the briefest moment and seen as always the crimson rain falling into the basin full of hot water beneath her hand, the red blood cells almost immediately lysing upon contact with the pure water, she resumed her stony-faced stare at the reflection before her, the ninja recited another line in her mind, the next litany of failure she had to atone for, ever vigilant for any hint of emotion, any scrap of pain that would have revealed the presence of her most reviled weakness, an inkling of wanting this necessary punishment to stop; _this one, for not recalling that…_;

There was a sudden, harsh slam on the locked bathroom door; her semi-trance broken so abruptly the chameleon jumped, heart hammering and the thick plastic block in her hand falling into the basin with a splash, soaking the floor as a hoarse voice croaked through the thick wood,

"Esp", there was a pause, a priceless second for her to re-establish control in her head again against the sudden stab of panic, "for the love of God hurry up, I'm dying out here!"

XXX

Shock froze her, right now when she needed her new-found strength more than ever it deserted her; paralysed at being caught completely out, the rabbit in plain sight of the headlights, Espio could do nothing beyond stand and stare at the door ahead of her, unable to comprehend the fact that now, maybe just now, she was going to be finally and forever found out. _They can't know_; fear, not panic now, a much more grasping, squeezing iron fist of an emotion than mere flighty panic could ever be, began winding its way around her legs and waist with the sinuous grace of a sidewinder; _they'll can't…they'll never understand – they won't believe that this is for the greater goo…!_

"Esp!" The booming explosion of noise mere feet from her was both a blessing and a curse; it simultaneously scattered the few thoughts she'd managed to collate together at the same time as physically shatter the mental block that had solidified around her feet, "I'm gonna break this bloody door down if you're not outta there in five seconds!"

"N, No you're not", the chameleon finally rediscovered her tongue and immediately used it; answering back gave her the very briefest breathing space to plan what she needed to do next, "remember the last door you stove in – cost us a fortune to replace. Anyway, I'm nearly done", and it was half-true – even as she finished speaking her hands, the back of one of them now streaming blood down the back of her wrist, wrenched open the medicine cabinet above the toilet and dove inside.

_Come on, come on, come on…there!_; seeing the big white box filled her with sweet relief; almost in the same instant her fingers were prising the top free and extracting a single large, white plaster, one of the largest sizes available and for use only in an emergency; _and as far as I'm concerned this more than qualifies!_ Flipped her left hand over so it rested palm down, the chameleon ripped off the two adhesive-shielding plastic sheet with her teeth and then slapped the exposed bandage on her recently slit scales, staunching the flow of vitae. Elation filled her but she didn't dally with it; half the battle was won but without decisive action now all could still come to ruin – grabbing a decent handful of toilet roll from the dispenser, Espio mopped up the few traces of blood that remained on her hand and had slipped down on over her skin, then scanned the room as a whole and dabbed at the speckles of blood that had been scattered around by her reckless salvage operation,

"Espio, for God _sake!_" The voice was followed by a weak thump on the door itself – it sounded like Mighty had actually flumped against the wood itself but right now the chameleon didn't care; throwing the reddened strip of white paper into the bowl and flushing, Espio darted to the sink and, only just remembering to use her right hand just in time, plunged in to retrieve the object she'd dropped at the armadillo's earlier shout. Quickly rubbing it dry and replacing it where she'd found it, the ninja's last action was to snatch up her glove and shove it down onto her left hand, obliterating all the evidence from sight as she reached forwards and grabbed the door handle,

"Okay, about d-oof!" She got no further than that, perhaps fortunately as at that precise second she realised she'd accidentally put her glove on the wrong way around; as it was when Mighty came charging into the water closet like a cannonball, Espio found herself hastily shoved out into the corridor with a frantic,

"Thanks!" ringing in her ears.

Regathering her thoughts and sorting out her errant clothing, the ninja took and let out a deep, cleansing breath; overall she thought she'd handled that potential crisis quite well. _Although_; even as the praise filtered through into her mind she was wary of it – had she not almost panicked and lost everything at one point; such was not to be excused, or even tolerated, any further. Even as she left the landing and began to head down the stairs, ignoring the pleasure-wracked groans of her team mate finally enjoying some much-sought after relief at long last, she found her eye drawn towards her now-bandaged left hand and nodded; much had been done, but there was still much, much more to do before she could be even remotely satisfied with what she had achieved. _Still, nothing can be done yet_; the logical, deductive core of herself knew she needed time to heal what had just happened – she could not get careless now; _and it's going to be a pain trying to avoid Charmy now, the weekly test is nearly due. He can't go near my hands now, especially as some of the pressure points are on the back_; it was a quandary, but it was one she was sure she could deal with given a little time to think; _just don't mention it, chances are he'll probably forget anyway_.

XXX

It is the strangest quirk of fate that, in the aftermath of a great avalanche that can sweep all before it, very few people ever pay attention to the most important detail that, if missing, would prevent the entire catastrophe entirely; the first few rolling pebbles that begin the destruction are always forgotten in the aftermath, and thus it was that when the sight that met Vector's eyes that nondescript evening on a forgettable late winter's day finally made sense and the caul of deception ripped from his eyes, he would never remember what had happened earlier in the day to plant the seed of unease in his mind.

Typically it began just as he had the front door key jangling in his pocket, one foot out the door and half a bacon roll in his hand; turning clumsily, the crocodile hastily swallowed his latest mouthful and looked over at where Charmy now stood looking doleful,

"Yeah, wha's goin' down Charm, we're in 'urry".

"I know", the insect replied, scuffing his foot before apparently making his mind up and stepping forwards, "listen Vec, just feel under my neck would you?" _Eh?_; bamboozled by this odd request, the crocodile simply scratched his head and looked questioningly for an explanation that arrived, if not quite grudgingly, then certainly with more reluctance than he was used to seeing Charmy display,

"Sorry and all that", the bee apologised, his expression one of abashment as he glanced at the floor, "but…listen, can you just tell if I've nicked myself – just been firing up the old throat-slitter, see where I'm coming from?"

"Huh? Oh", sudden understanding dawned belatedly, "oh ya bin shavin'". Charmy nodded in enthusiastic agreement, only for his face to fall as Vector didn't seem to grasp his request straight away, "So 'ow do I come inta this?"

"Vector", the bee moaned, "I need you to check if I've nicked myself", he raised his chin, "just see if I'm bleeding; I can't see it in the mirror, not through my fur at least".

"Set yer razor t'a shorta length then", his team mate replied with a laugh, only to quickly stifle it and get down to business as Charmy glared at him as much as he could glare at anything. Carefully guiding his fingertips through the rough ruff of short, bristly hairs and examining the skin beneath by touch alone, Vector made sure his ministrations were gentle in touch as, much as he claimed he'd throttle the bee most of the time given half a chance, in his heart of hearts he knew he couldn't hurt Charmy any more than he could slice off his own arm. There didn't seem to be anything amiss and, as he withdrew his glove and checked the tips of his fingers just to be sure, he was pleased to be able to report a clean bill of health to his latest patient,

"Nope, nuthin' there pal, though smooth as a baby's it ain't".

"Like it ever will be"; Vector sniggered a little at the joke, though the laughter died in his throat as he realised Charmy wasn't joining in at all; sobering up almost instantly, the eldest of the Chaotix was on his guard immediately,

"Sumthin' the matter buzz-boy?"

"Hmm, oh no"; _don't want to worry him – lot on his plate at the minute_; the reasons Charmy gave himself were at least true – the job in Lava Reef had turned out to be an even more gargantuan beast than even Knuckles' most pessimistic predictions, and that was saying something; _no need to get his all shook up because I've got shaky hands_. If a part of the bee lectured him that there was no way the congealed red mass he kept finding clumped at both ends of the blade of his razor, hidden when the groomers sheathed the edge of the naked steel, could have been caused by him because he scrupulously washed the entire shaving contraction every time he used it, he squashed it down deep inside him and plastered a wide smile onto his face,

"Nah, nothing's up; Shadow always said though it's an easy thing to do, and you don't really feel it if you do get a little cut, and let's face it, no way I'm ever going to see anything through this", he pointed out his bristly neck fur again before trying to look more suave, "though next time, think I might get lucky enough to ask Mighty to have a quick…"

"Quick what?"

"Ahh!" Leaping into the air, all previous thoughts forgotten, the insect's already prodigious heartbeat shot into overdrive as Mighty glared as him and Vector, driven to laugh at the same time as polish off his breakfast, nearly ended up choking on the last of his butty, "Don't do that to me!" The armadillo smiled, a dark, devious expression as she squeezed past him in the hallway, casually socking Vector one in the gut as she moved past, the resultant explosive cough enough to loosen the morsel of food stuck in his trachea,

"Take it from me that'll be the least of your worries if you ever ask me for a game of doctors and nurses. Anyway, saddle up Vector, and wagon's roll; see you tonight Charm, make sure the kettle's going and the grub's on the table when we're done". Charmy gave a low, ironic bow,

"Yes mistress; anything else your heart might desire, bitter and twisted as it is?" The armadillo snorted,

"Not yet, but if anything does crop up I've got your number. Vec?"

"Goin' goin'; later Charm"; the bee raised a hand casually as the two of his team mates departed, controlling the faint rippling of disquiet in his stomach through force of will; _it's nothing important – it'll all be over soon enough, once I get better at shaving at least_.

Even as he said it though, a small part of his mind whispered that, as he'd found out earlier that morning, it took a long time to wash old blood away; as he hushed it with the rest of his naturally optimistic personality, however, the bee could not have possibly known how right that tiny portion of his inner psyche was.

XXX

The second piece of the puzzle came much later on in the day, the time lag helping explain how the crocodile never managed to make the whole thing quite add up before this point. He'd finally managed to turf Mighty out of the bathroom and was just drying himself out after a good, long soak in scalding water when his ears, sharp even if almost invisible to the naked eye, heard the unmistakable babble of raised voices rising up from the floor beneath his feet. Sighing softly to himself, the crocodile slung the wet towel over the radiator and quickly slipped on gloves, socks and shoes, mentally running a checklist over in his head as his mercurial mind tired to work out the most probably cause of the fracas he could now hear dying down in the background. Despite trying his hardest to think of scenarios that ran to the contrary, and even with reminders of her recent improvement in behaviour if not exactly temperament, Vector wasn't all that surprised to see, as he came down the stairs, Espio come storming out of the lounge and into the kitchen, not even sparing him a sidelong glance. Sighing again, the crocodile geared himself up to do what he did best and pour oil over storming waters; _okay Esp, who's nose did you stick that needle of yours up this time?_; ad after a brief moment of composing himself, pushed open the door the chameleon had slammed shut behind her.

The first thing he saw upon taking in the scenario was a sight to make him drop his eyes immediately, muttering an apology to Mighty as he did so – occupied with rolling her top back down over herself, the armadillo accepted his contrition with a rough nod, speaking up a second later to alert Charmy to the fact it was now safe for him to turn around,

"Not your fault Vec, and anyway you've probably seen it all before by now", the basic fact that this statement was true, albeit accidentally, caused the crocodile to give an awkward sort of smile before launching himself off into the deep end of his inquiries,

"Yeah I prob'bly 'ave; still, dun wanna be thought t'be pryin'. Any'ow", he jerked a thumb over his shoulder as Charmy rolled his eyes, "'o'd Ms Personality 'ack off this time?" The bee tossed his head haughtily, as though the moods and whims of his surly companion meant nothing to him,

"I suppose she was after me, but in the end it doesn't really matter a lot; I just thought that as I'd finished with her", he pointed over his shoulder at where Mighty was now fully dressed and clearing up the old towel and basin of water the pair of them used in the tri-weekly routine of the bee washing out under the crevasses of her shell and Vector nodded in agreement, "I could kill two birds with one stone and get her finished as well – luckily for me though, despite her trying to throw a spanner in the works", his lip curled in disdain again but, with an effort, he forced the expression off his face, "I still can".

"Really?" Mighty's disembodied voice floated back to them both, the armadillo halfway up the stairs by the sound of things, "how's that work?"

"Rouge had a word with me after we'd finished off at the shrine together – she and Knucks are apparently helping Wyn tonight, just a last few touches needed to bring the place to life, ready for a couple of months from now", knowing what the insect was referring to almost without needing to think Vector nodded, prompting Charmy to carry on, "but she mentioned the roof's sprung a bit of a leak in their place. Nothing serious but I said I'd look into it – might as well get it done tonight now hadn't I, now I've got a free slot".

_Okay, wasn't quite expecting that_; taken rather aback by this change in circumstance, the crocodile gaped at his team mate before finally regathing some of the dignity he'd just lost and bringing himself upright again from the slouched pose he'd adopted. Trying to put on a purely business face, he stroked the point of his jaw and stared the bee down coolly,

"Hmm, 'kay; Red mention anythin' 'bout wha's causin' it?"

"The leak you mean?" Vector nodded, "Yeah, she reckons one of the wood timber's got rot and the moisture's starting to leak through; she said she'd ask her other half to cut a replacement and leave it for me tomorrow morning; still, if it goes okay now I'll get it done tonight – she said she'd bring me back a doggy-bag if I did a good job, so we'll have a bit of a midnight snack between us. Or", the roguish smile he'd dropped off his face abruptly, curdling into a sneer as he nodded towards the lounge door, "at least three of us will; after that she can waste to a thread as far as I'm concerned".

"I'm jus' gonna regret askin'"; _but you're going to anyway_; thought Charmy, torn between wistful regret and irked annoyance at what was surely coming next, "bu' wha' 'appened?"

"Ask her", again a voice from behind them cut in; looking over his shoulder Vector watched as Mighty strode past and quickly shoved her shell-cleaning kit back behind the settee where it normally resided when not in use, speaking as she did so, "Charm'd just finished on my back and asked Espio if she wanted to get started on the points he usually works on; I didn't see it being on the floor, but she jumped up like a cat with its tail in the fire".

"Really?" As his team mates nodded Vector was forced to accept that irregularity as the truth, "Not like 'er to lose 'er cool. So she stormed off 'cause'a that?"

"Well I asked again, and, fatal this was, asked why not; wrong question – boom!" Charmy slapped the edge of one hand into the palm of the other for emphasis, "Dungeon door came down and she just walked right outta here, just like", he checked his watch and started, "I'm going to have to if I want to get this done; I'm borrowing the flashlight and some twine, hopefully be back in an hour or so". Mighty chuckled, reaching forwards to rub his antennae before he moved away from her,

"We'll wait up Charm; if nothing else I heard Wyn's cooking tonight"; shaking his head and with a smile back where it belonged, on his face, the bee tapped the side of his oldest team mate's arm as he sauntered past, out of view and quickly beyond that, down the basement stairs to the Chaotix teleporter.

XXX

Despite himself Vector had ventured into the kitchen but not, as Espio might have suspected, to deliver a tongue-lashing to her for picking on Charmy; in fact compared to what the bee had been on the receiving end of before the chameleon's apparent gender switch, a slammed door was the very height of self-restraint. However, despite this apparently elongated spell of good behaviour, there was a line Espio should have known how to toe and she'd just put a foot across it quite impressively and, an ounce or prevention being better than a pound of cure, the crocodile resolved to nip whatever was bothering her in the bud and avoid a repeat performance. Taking in the sound of running water and the scene in front of him, the crocodile found himself once more confounded at the scene in front of him; though it was on the Chaotix rota of chores and therefore had to be done by her on occasion, the crocodile honestly couldn't remember the last time he'd seen Espio do the washing up hen it wasn't her turn.

_Maybe she's trying to make up for earlier_; it was an idea, and one that be both recognised as having a great deal of merit and privately hoped was accurate – as far as he was concerned anything that cast the chameleon in a charitable light was a rare and precious thing. Realising he hadn't been spotted, the crocodile decided discretion as the better part of valour and that he could get the answers he wanted without having to go in all guns blazing; knowing full well what a shouting match with Espio would likely entail, Vector counted this as a good thing. Instead of tackling the problem head-on, therefore, he took a more roundabout route and, acting like he'd just come in, visibly started and spoke,

"'Ey up; oh, nicely done Esp, Charm's outta commishun t'night". The chameleon looked over her shoulder at him,

"He is? For what reason?"

"Sumthin' 'bout doin' the guardians a favour, might get'a bite t'eat outta it, so far as I cun'tell, it's a good thing. Any'ow", smoothly sliding next to her and snagging the drying up cloth from where it hung over the oven rail, Vector reached for one of the sud-covered plates, "not got anythin' t'do right now, le's get this done". Espio gave a shrug that could've meant anything, the top third of the bright yellow gloves she was wearing to keep her own gloves dry protruding from the washing up bowl as she carried on her self-appointed task, Vector by the side of her, working to make her life easier at the same time as pick his time to get the decisive word in edgeways.

XXX

"Right, Esp"; _knew it couldn't last forever_; though she concealed her outward disgruntlement expertly, internally the chameleon in question burned up in aggravation as she heard the crocodile start up to say what had been on his mind ever since he'd come in on the pretence of helping get the washing up done, "I'm not even gonna say dun bother, waste o'me breath; wha'd the li'l buzzer do this time?"

"Nothing".

"Really – lotta nuthin' ta get you antsy". _Stupid_; once more she laid a charge at her door, one she'd answer later, when she was truly alone; _and now I have to answer_. Idly fishing out the last few condiments from the bottom of the bowl, the chameleon sighed as she tossed them onto the draining board,

"Okay then, you caught me; just after, or just before rather, he'd finished with Mighty, he mentioned he wanted to get on with my pressure points; I said no, but you know he can't seem to take that as an answer most of the time". Vector chuckled; it was a fair enough point,

"Dun I just, though why not, just outta interest like". The glare the chameleon had sent his way as she'd tipped the used washing water away down the sink had been enough to dissuade any further enquiry,

"Not up for it tonight; had a match with Rouge yesterday, still smarting a bit from a few of her kicks".

"No' unusual that, though frum what I 'eard ya won it well…"

Vector Crocodile stopped dead; as the tiny particles of truth he'd inadvertently collated together finally fused together under the duress of the catalyst he'd just seen with his own two eyes, everything else was blown clean out of his head, debris flung heedlessly aside in the wake of a megaton explosion. As Espio had slipped off her washing up gloves they'd brushed back her normal gloves a fraction and he'd seen it, the tiniest, tiniest thing that had represented the missing pieces of the puzzle, that had reacted with all else he had discovered and inadvertently, sent absolutely everything plummeting straight downwards through the soles of his shoes en route to a stark, terrible conclusion that coiled like a dead lead weight in the very pit of his gut, spreading through the rest of him like a cancer.

Something that looked suspiciously, in fact identically, like recently applied surgical gauze poked out a corner, startling white against the normal purple scales at the back of one of the chameleon's hands.

A/N: And how did that get there exactly – will the others find out and, if so, how? Stay tuned and you might just find out!


	8. Chapter 8 Running from the Pain

Chapter 8 – Running from the Pain

Chapter 8 – Running from the Pain

A/N: A difficult chapter to write this one; please let me know if I pulled it off all right. Still, as always, the reviewers come first in these fictions:

TNH – Does Vector know now, and even if he does can he pull the chameleon through? Read on, and I hope you enjoy this answer (or at least, this part of the answer).

BC – Cruel maybe but sometimes you have to be a bit cruel to be kind :-). Anyway, the arc continues as it will for a while yet; hope you're still in time when it finally draws to a close.

Ri2 – What's she doing – I think the more pertinent question now might be what're the others going to do now?

D. G. Arrow (DGA from now on) – Thanks for the review; glad I've helped you enjoy it.

"Esp, wha's that?" Caught out a little by the crocodile's uncharacteristic stutter, the chameleon glanced towards the now empty sink, fully expecting to see some small utensil she'd missed clinking around in the bottom of the bowl. When her eyes found nothing but the last few dregs of the soap bubbles bursting on the bottom of the plastic, it was the most natural thing in the world to do to ask,

"What's what? I can't see anything".

"That", at the sudden dryness of his voice the other reptile turned around and notice for the first time that he was pointing directly at her now; a shiver rippled down her back even before he spoke again – when the latter part of his statement washed over her, her spine froze completely solid, "on yer 'and".

"That, er", panic took over; despite all her training and attempts at self-control the chameleon couldn't stop herself gabbling the words as and when they came into her head, "that's nothing, no really, I just got it bashed when, er, I was…fighting, with Rouge, you remember we were sparring right? Well she just caught it right with her toe-cap, lucky I didn't break a finger or two really…"

Vector wasn't listening, in fact everything else around him had greyed out into immaterialism as he ran what he'd just seen over and over again; there was just the very edge of the plaster, the violet hue of the scales that surrounded it, and there was the irrelevant everything else, banished to the very fringes of his conscious thoughts as the aftershocks of the fearful mental tremor shook him right to the core. Just as he had before, in the few occasions when he'd been able to get into his stride during the heyday of the Chaotix Detective Agency, the few half-formed ideas and fears he'd been exposed to up to now had suddenly combined in his mind, a golden, shimmering thread that lead him to a conclusion he could not turn away from; once he had seen the line he could not unsee it, no matter how much he might have wanted to. He could only follow the path to the conclusion it must surely arrive at no matter how he wished his feet would drag, that he would not be forced to witness this monstrous thing that he now knew had happened right in his plain sight. There was a buzzing in his ears, he could visually see Espio's mouth moving but no words of any consequence were coming out of it; without conscious thought, the crocodile was forced to go through the motions, to finally unearth the cancer that had eaten away at everything he'd ever loved since he had cut the tethers to his family.

XXX

There was no warning; normally an attack was preceded by a short speech of impending victory, a sharp intake of breath, even a widening of the eyes to draw in more light to fight by, but as Vector suddenly lunged there were none of these normal subconscious warnings. Uninformed and therefore caught completely cold by his unadvertised rush, Espio was unable to mount anything like a defence as a grip like a vice crushed her left wrist; in fact it was only because he'd inadvertently grabbed around the bottom of her glove and therefore had difficulty pulling it off that she managed to put up any kind of fight at all. _What's he…?_; dim, subconscious memories of the other times this had happened and what they'd been a precursor to surfaced suddenly in her mind and she reflexively kicked out, lashing and spitting swift insults, trying to squirm free and get away from the one who was hurting her. Unfortunately such punches and kicks were wild, undirected and therefore lacked the punch necessary to soak through the crocodiles' thicker natural armour, his scales taking the damage and probably barely registering them as little more than an irritation. She would have cried out, the grip of her mnemonic demons so strong she was almost reduced to tears by now, the only reason she didn't scream because her throat felt swollen, barely able to breathe as finally, almost mercifully, there was a rush of air over one of the few areas of skin she normally kept covered and everything she'd ever tried to build up round herself came crashing down.

XXX

As the garment slipped upwards Espio ceased struggling as though the glove had been her last possible bastion of defence; the moan that issued forth from the crocodile's lips was an unconscious reaction to the truth that his spiritualistic core had begged to be disproved even as the logic side of his brain had told him to be braced for the worst; at the sight of the plaster splayed huge and angry across the back of the chameleon's paw he was unable to prevent tears from forming in his eyes, the monstrosity of what he was faced with echoed in his mind like the judgement of heaven issued from on high in a clap of thunder. Tearing his eyes away from the awful sight was almost physically painful, a scourging agony in his retinas as his gaze was transferred to his team mate's face, the visage of a stranger he had known for the better part of a decade. This time, perhaps for the first time, there was nothing hidden between them; as one Mobian reeled in horror at what he had seen so did the mask of the one he held finally slip and shatter on the stone floor of reality – blanked by shock, Espio's eyes were as empty and transparent as his own must have been, and for a second her pupils flickered upwards like a dove startled on the forest floor, and they met Vectors full-on.

For the very briefest of instants their minds and more than that, their very souls touched, bare and naked of all the normal pretence that had marred such meldings in the past; as the black scars of one were fully exposed in all their suppurating hideousness, so did the other fail to appreciate how callously such cuts had been inflicted and, unknowing how deeply it was getting involved, forced itself willingly deeper into the void, desperately seeking to finally aid someone who had long ago given up any thoughts or faint hopes of their own redemption and healing.

XXX

Neither of them, petrified within that unmoving tableau, appeared to notice the movement that had gone on until the sudden ripping noise came to their ears and one of them hissed in pain; fugue broken by the noise and, in Espio's case, sudden ache from the back of her ensnared hand, both of them glanced away from the other's face and their eyes were drawn towards the bleached flesh where the plaster had been torn away, the limp scrap of plastic now dangling from Vector's free hand. Transfixed for a moment by the sight lifting such a stone revealed, seeing the fresher cuts of the gruesome lattice bleeding anew as the scabs had been lifted along with the adhesive on the bottom of the plaster, for a moment all was still, only the faltering trickle of the crimson vitae down the back of the chameleons' hand then along the ridge of the crocodiles' thumb proving that this tableau consisted of living, breathing Mobians and not a pair of exquisitely-crafted sculptures, before finally one of the two of them was able to breathe again, the merest ghost of a normally rich and fulsome voice ascending to haunt the air between them again,

"Why?" If he had ever meant to ask 'what' such a question was now irrelevant; there was no way injuries could ever be inflicted in such a regular, regimented fashion in the hurly-burly of everyday life – it had take a precise and utterly alien logic to dictate such woundings as these,

"I…", the words stuck in her throat; in fact there were no words at all – nothing was all she could think of in the light of all her webs of mystique and aloofness being finally brought down in an unravelling knot, "I…"

"Esp, why?" He asked again, gone beyond a question, beyond even a demand – it was an unyielding, vehement _need_ to understand, to try and explain rationally something he would never be able to know; _and how I envy you that_;

"I, I had to", the fact that she had made the first thought in response to his question had been enough to give her back her mind; now the words came raw, unscripted and unstoppable, each one etched with its unique brand of reticence and pain and none of them saying what the chameleon wanted to say, "the points weren't working any more, Charmy couldn't press hard enough; I have to get better and this, this was all that would let me do it. It's okay, I barely felt anything, and I've been careful, never bled out more than…"

She felt silent only when, having looked everywhere else but directly in front of her, for lack of other options her auburn irises were dragged once more before the scrutiny of Vector's darker hues; once more their eyes locked but this time there was no meeting of confusion and self-revulsion. Instead against the unstoppable force she could see rising and surging forwards behind the crocodiles' still-transparent pupils, Espio could only quail as the tsunami of outraged, murderous wrath met with anguished guilt at the realisation of what he had missed going on before his eyes and submerged it, perverted it, became reinforced by it. The grip around her wrist was iron and cold steel; she could not run, she could not flee, she could not even look away as the fire of rage thundered forwards at breakneck speed towards her from the very bloody, wounded heart of her team mate roaring for revenge at her doing this to herself and, by extension, the Chaotix as a whole. The fury was so terrifying and so close, so blisteringly hot, that the fist that landed hard in her belly and drove her from her feet to land at the base of the wall fully six feet from where she had been stood was by comparison merciful; as Vectors' enraged bellow tore at her ears and she saw his hands clench into fists, jaws pointing at the ceiling as he howling his ire at the very sky above his head, Espio felt herself go numb, a serene sort of peace flooding her system as it had before – limp as a rag doll, she simply waited where she was for the storm to break over her, for at least she would not have to look into those blazing, maddened yet still so tragically haunted eyes again.

Compared to that nightmare fate, the pain she would surely now endure at the fists, feet and flailing tail of the beast now advancing on her with lethal intent, was little more than trifling.

XXX

_Jesus Christ in Heaven above!_; throwing down the paper she was reading Mighty bolted for the door and tore it open – she'd heard raised voices from the kitchen and thought nothing of it, after all, what was a couple of harsh words and shouts between a team as close to a family as this, but the wrathful scream that had just echoed through the home was on a whole different playing field. The timbre of the voice made it patently obvious who had bellowed in such a fashion but even that stark fact made her blood run cold; out of all the Chaotix, she'd never before heard Vector lose control like he just must have. Unsure of what she could possibly see when she arrived but by the same token unable to stop for fear of the situation deteriorating into blood and hopelessness, the armadillo sprinted towards the kitchen; what should have been a few metres at most seemed to pan out into a hellish marathon but all too soon the cold metal of the kitchen door handle was in the palm of her hand. She paused for a split-second before wrenching the handle just as crocodiles' wild, infuriated whoop had wrenched her guts a moment ago; the door swung back so hard under her genetically-enhanced strength that it shivered as it bounced off the wall it was attached to, a shiver that seemed to transmit straight through the floor and up through the armadillos' boots as she bore mute witness to a scene from a world gone utterly and hopelessly mad.

She could see only Vector and even then not all of him; for that she was grateful, for the side of his elongated snout that was visible to her was repellent enough. His lips were pulled upward into a serrated snarl, teeth and even his gums exposed to the frigid air as the single eye she could see was transfixed forwards, locking onto its target as though its gaze had been nailed there. From this demonic countenance a growl low enough to shake the earth itself was rumbling, the fists at the side of this beast clenched and both drawn back, ready to let fly at something she couldn't see; _something_; the sudden connection she forged in her mind was enough to spark her shock-drained body into action again; _or someone! Vector no_; scrambling around the table towards him, Mighty reached out and put her trust in her strength to overpower his rage; her questing fingers felt something rough and dry beneath their tips and immediately clamped shut, the armadillo planting her feet and stopping the crocodile from lashing out as she knew he would if he wasn't stopped; _she's not worth it – you'll just hate yourself for this later_;

"Vec", she shouted more to drown out the grating snarl that invaded her ears like a continual earthquake than anything else, "no, you've got to stop this", despite her efforts he was still moving forwards slightly, slewing like a ship with an anchor cable still moored to the sea floor – redoubling her efforts, the armadillo shouted again, "there's no need to go for her".

For a moment she thought she'd got away with it, and to be fair to her Vector did stop trying to press forwards towards the shoes and shins she could see poking out against the far wall from behind the crocodiles' bulk; caught slightly in two minds Mighty let her pressure ease but still kept a tight grip on her team mates' wrist, ready to resume the pin if anything changed. For a brief pause all was still and she dared to breathe again; that same breath then caught in her throat as, unexpectedly, Vector turned to look over his shoulder at her, eyes reduced to puffed-up slits and nostrils flaring, air wheezing in and out of his lungs raggedly as she gazed on, agape. Without a word the leader of the Chaotix stepped silently to the side, Mighty's restraining grip sloughing away to nothingness in the face of such a shock, unable to comprehend such a profound altering of the crocodiles' normally laid-back, devil-may-care attitude in so short a space of time. She stared, and kept staring as he slowly folded his brawny arms, the hands on the end of them still squeezed into fists so tight she could see as the veins throbbed even under the gloves he wore; his head jerked abruptly, minutely and without realising she was obeying his unspoken command, Mighty let her gaze travel across and down to see the other player in this game with no victors.

From what she could tell Espio appeared mostly fine physically, just a little shaken and sucking down air greedily; it was the expression on her face and radiating out from her whole body that showed the obvious emotional trauma she was being forced to endure. For one thing she was shivering from head to foot – never before had the armadillo seen the ninjistu disciple display such outright fear so openly. Her eyes were huge in her whitened face; though she couldn't go white through loss of blood, Espio was one of a very few reptilian Mobians who could blanch unconsciously at time of true terror, times such as this – the scales all over her body were now a ghostly white, as stark as if she'd been dunked in a flour barrel. Mighty could do nothing more than shake her head, rooted to the spot despite the straining of her pitying heart as, for perhaps the very first time, the armadillo saw her contemporary in a completely different light – here and now, there was no false bravado, there were no curt sneerings or caustic put-downs, all of that was gone like snow on the mountains in summer time. Before her now was someone else, someone utterly different to the chameleon she knew; a little girl, lost and alone and seemingly unable to comprehend what had just happened, or what if anything she had done wrong at all, gazed up at her from the floor now, eyes empty of everything except the basic, animal instinct to simply endure, survive the next trial to be thrown at it and then try to build something from the ruins she was left with,

"Esp?" She didn't even react at her name, still continuing to stare blankly ahead of her with only the breath whistling from her lips as the sole sign she was still alive, "Espio Chameleon, what's happening? What's going on?"

Finally there was a sign of life from within the deadened shell but, before the reptile could answer the question put to her both women were forced to duck and lower their ears as a slow chuckle, stinking black and oozing with evil humour, rattled through the air to their ears. Like a drowning man's last breath of life Vector was snickering even if nothing else about him suggested even a trace of humour; looking around at him, Mighty opened her mouth to phrase the question but found herself cut off,

"Show her, Esp", unlike his earlier conduct the words and the tone he delivered them in were soft and calculated, these two factors wrapping the cold steel in his voice in a thin veneer of velvet, his habit of missing out letters replaced with dead, hollow punctiliousness of punctuation, "show her, let her see what you've been doing, the next step of your great master plan. What, not talking", with a snort the crocodile tore his gaze from the huddled wretch across from him disgustedly, "not like you Espio; you usually can't wait to rip the rest of us apart; who knew you did the same to yourself as well? Well I'll say it then", though Mighty couldn't see over her shoulder, Vector did and the sight of someone who he'd once considered important in his life desperately shaking her head and mouthing silent pleas for him to hold his tongue gave him a kind of dissociated thrill, a cool, detached pleasure in seeing the cantankerous chameleon hoisted so high by her own petard of callous verbal wounding to people who actually gave a damn about her.

Slowly and with his hands still trembling, Vector offered forwards the plaster still pinched between the fingers of his formerly free left hand; for a minute Mighty watched the thin bandage shiver in the air before her until, at last, she reached upwards and plucked it from his hand, her eyes not resting on it yet as it was clear the crocodile hadn't finished speaking.

"This is what she's been doing Mighty; when we weren't there, behind our backs", once more, unbidden, the emotion began to course through him again, invisible blood pouring from emotional slashes far deeper than any cuts in the flesh could ever be, "look an', and you figure it out".

XXX

_This is…urgh!_; as there was a heavy thump from somewhere nearby her, the armadillo finally got around to inspecting the limp, bedraggled thing she held now and almost immediately dropped it, revolted by the substance that coated the inside of the plaster in dried, flaking clumps. Even, though, as one part of her was repelled by the gruesome discovery another aspect, perhaps one influenced over time by Vector's habit of swift and shrewd thinking, was joining together dots about what she was seeing, coupling it with what she'd been told and trying to paint a picture about what was therefore going on; _he said this was about Espio, something about a master plan – what's that all about? Wait, what did she say earlier – something about she wanted to get stronger, when I kicked her out her room – did she injure herself doing it? Is that what this all…_

It was a thought the armadillo never finished; much like Vector had, the piece flew together unstoppably and she moaned in horrified terror at the grisly light they cast over this scenario. Her face seemed to shrivel up inside its shell, the blood that drained from it leaving her skin puckered like a deflated balloon as she shuddered, swaying on the spot, almost unable to comprehend what had happened, what must still be happening around her even now. Almost transfixed she pivoted around, unable to glance backwards, having to turn and see the sight that would surely meet her eyes; magnetically it seemed her gaze was drawn to the site of the wounds even as the chameleon attempted to cover them with her uncut hand, some of the fresher lacerations still dribbling blood after the forcible removal of the plaster had torn off their scabs. Throat dry as the desert sands Mighty could not speak without pain, air over her parched throat a torment, yet speak she did in a withered hag-like croak,

"Esp, you", the chameleon glanced down, though whether in shame or contemplation Mighty couldn't tell as she thrust the unclean bandage forwards, a pennant stained with dark red streaks, "did you, do this?"

"Yes".

XXX

At the end there was nothing she could do; burned hollow with the recent terror she'd gone through, and for some unknown reason, a strange sensation guilt and shame mixed together to fuel that fire, Espio could do nothing more than admit the truth. The very core of her being, the icy hardness that was all she had left inside took over and conducted the last few useless motions, conveyed the rational behind her actions to the others; denial was pointless, they'd already figured out what was going on. _Maybe_; the though echoed in her head, a thin, faint ghost of a hope that might make this more bearable, for her as well as for the other two; _if I word this right, maybe they might understand – if I say things well enough, they won't get angry_;

"I won't deny it"; _eh?_; it was only when her own voice reached her ears that she realised she was speaking at all – her voice was dead, flat and hollow, but at least she didn't have to think about what she was saying, some invisible puppet-master was pulling those strings without any input from her, "I've been cutting, not very long though; I had to", somehow, even she had no idea how, she managed to raise her head slightly and give a weak chuckle, apparently not noticing Vector sat at the table with his fists clenched hard against his jaw, or Mighty looking like she was about to burst with either rage or tears, "the points don't work any more, I don't feel them. There has to be another way to work this, I thought, and eventually I found it – I'm being careful though, never gone even close enough to do anything serious…"

"Get out".

The words weren't even a whisper but even so she heard them as clearly as the tolling of a church bell; puzzlement, an emotion like the rest of them that she'd never thought she'd feel again, clouded her mind as she switched her gaze to the slumped shoulders of the crocodile now hunched on the table,

"Excuse me?"

"Get out", Vector said again, his voice slightly more noticeable now as he started to stand up, face still covered with his bunched up fingers, "I've never raised my hand to a woman", his voice seemed to be breaking, something akin to an all-out civil war seeming to rip him up from inside as he fought to make it to his feet, "please don't make me break that. Just get out now".

"Get out", rather than anger, rather than fear, Espio felt only confusion at the crocodile's order, "as in, leave", taking the crocodiles' bob of the shoulders as answer, the chameleon likewise tried to stand up, voice rising in volume every second, "for what? This is", she looked at her still bleeding lacerations and shook her head; _they're not that bad, what's making him react like this?_; "this is nothing, not really; I can still work as hard as…"

Vector dropped his fists.

No devil in any hell, no demon from any scriptures and no monster from any movie script could have appeared more horrifying or cast as long a shadow of terror than the crocodile did at that moment; the fury Espio had glimpsed in his eyes a moment ago was nothing to this new force she could see incandescent throughout his body. Such was its magnitude that it rendered itself impotent for only a split-second, Vector trembling from head to toe as the pure emotion wracked his frame, but that split-second was all-important as the heat of such infuriation radiated out from its host and inadvertently lit another flame in its wake – burning off the fear that had threatened to impale her to the floor, Espio was hurled to her feet and to the side by nothing more than survival instinct and adrenaline. Heart hammering so fast it made her vision blur, the chameleon felt the ground shake as Vector charged forwards, driven beyond words and rationality by his maleficent wrath; scrambling to her knees the chameleon shuffled awkwardly towards the door, scrambling forwards and desperate to get her feet underneath her as she heeded her new, maniac desire, the only option she had left to her.

Finally, after an eon of flailing around uselessly she managed to stand, only to stumble; there was a rush of cold air behind her, a brittle snapping noise and another depth-charge of adrenaline blew up in her bloodstream; _biting!_ Never before had she seen the crocodile even bare his teeth aggressively at another Mobian, let alone a team mate; despite her scales she knew if the crocodile was able to fasten his jaws around her she was more than likely going to die, either on the spot or due to massive blood loss and trauma later. She had to escape, get as far away from her as possible and right now it was all she could think of, the one goal left to her in what was left of her heartless, lonely life; cannoning into the hallway, the chameleon ricocheted off the hall wall and ran, no, ran implied she had some measure of control left; she pelted down towards the main door and, praise be to a god she had long ago cast aside, it was still open. Ripping it open she was outside just as the earth began to move again – she had just enough sense left in her head to frantically shove the door shut again behind her; the force of Vector impacting on it nearly knocked her off her feet. As he was delayed in opening the door the chameleon slewed around, weaving as she ran out towards the road, crashing into the small fence that ringed the small garden at the front of the property, vaulting over such an impediment, forcing herself to ignore the agonised weal across her thighs and then finally free, able to run and run and run, direction not important as long as it was away, far away from here and the catastrophe she had caused in her wake, away from the pain she had caused.

XXX

Left behind by what she had seen Mighty felt herself eventually move as though in a dream; so short of breath and light of head she was teetering on unconsciousness, the armadillo found herself tottering into the hallway just as the almighty crunch from the front door signalled Vector had just attempted to run through it in his attempt to snare the lithe, running from of the chameleon fleeing for her life. Unable to speak, not daring herself to do any more than draw in air she needed, Mighty watched on almost impassively as Vector slid down the front of the doorway, coiling up it seemed as a second later his hand shot for the door handle, ready to wrench the impediment before him open and continue the chase but the attempt failed, his questing digits losing their strength as the anger ebbed away from him. Slumping down again, shoulders heaving with spent emotion and confusion at how things could have possibly turned out this way, Vector collapsed with sobs spilling from his lips, grief replacing wrath and almost as powerful, tearing through him as his forehead rested on the door in front of him, a mourner at a silent, solemn shrine. Legs buckled completely, the crocodile tried to fall forwards only to find the angle he was leaning at and the length of his body wouldn't allow it; instead he cumbersomely collapsed to the side, ending up slouched in the corner between door and hallway and not caring at all; at this moment there were only tears, tears and the overwhelming sense of painful loss as the truth, no longer shrouded underneath the blanket of agony, was pressed into his mind like a torturer's rod.

Espio was gone and that was all there was; none of his normal thoughts were present in this unrelenting agony; only this stark, stone truth and the pain it caused him mattered and nothing else existed. Drawing his knees up into his chest the crocodile rocked forwards and back, forwards and back, the motion mirroring the ship of his mind being tossed around in wilder, more powerful emotional seas than he'd ever been forced to navigate before. He felt he might break apart completely, shatter and be done with it all; something brushed his arm lightly and he quivered trying to repel it without thought, force it to leave him alone so that he might possibly see this storm through to its conclusion, one way or the other,

"No", the word reached his ears somehow, slurred and blubbered as though its speaker was drunk, "no way; not you too"; suddenly something grabbed his wrist and wrenched his arm from around himself; even as he found to cover himself again, symbolically hold himself together something else, something huge, warm and incredibly strong, filled the gap – his arm still moved, swinging back around to its original position only to find itself hugging something hard and horn-like. Breathing as ragged as his own filled his ear and, somehow, he was able to work out what had happened; holding on tight he buried as much of his face as he could into Mighty just as he felt her other arm and her face press into his cheek, almost wrapping herself around him to stay as close as possible. Buoyed up only by each other, the two friends huddled together in the night as the trauma of what had happened, the wound that the dagger of betrayal had gashed them with, rent agony and fire through their bodies and, more than that, perhaps their very souls as well.

XXX

Somewhere, in the darkness he had no idea of direction, a panting, exhausted figure came to a shuddering halt, breath frosting the air around her as she shook her head to clear it, try to focus on the most immediate issues now; _right, forget everything else, get through the night_. Carefully blanking out every other consideration Espio threw her mind into this new struggle as surviving the next twelve hours was in all probability going to be much more daunting a prospect than it appeared to be on paper. For a start there was no way she could get a bed for the night; she had no money to rent a room, no idea where she was to try and find any sort of drop-in shelter and she couldn't even bring herself to consider the idea of returning home – as of right now she no longer had a home to go to, once more she'd thrown that sort of chance aside. And it was winter too; as the heat of her run burnt off she began to feel the nip in the air and swore softly – she didn't have any other clothes on that what she was dressed in, and that didn't include her left glove; _bugger, now everyone can see_. Shame and scorn scourging her emotions Espio clenched her fists, or at least, she clenched her right fist as trying to curl her left hand up pulled painfully on the slashes Vector had beheaded earlier, but in an oblique way the pain was good, it let her think rationally again.

She had to survive the night; that meant either finding or making some sort of structure of some kind; as she'd earlier realised she couldn't go with option A, that left only the second idea as a possible fall back. _Great, so_; wearily, tired in both body and, perhaps more than that, in mind as well, Espio looked up and down the road she'd run down, trying to find a sign of some kind that would point her towards where she needed to go next; _first thing, try to find a park of some kind – well, look on the bright side of all this_; a smile, something she'd been unable to countenance minutes ago, slipped over her face, remaining there frozen and robotic as she set off again, more of a trudge in her stride this time as the turgid truth filtered through to her, salt in her bleeding wounds; _at least I know what I'm doing this time – I've had practise at this before._

XXX

It was the gentle rocking that began to bring him back.

He wasn't moving, that much he was sure of, so how come he was still vibrating like this, and while he was on the subject why was one side of his body warmer than the other? And why was his back aching so badly? _Well, actually the last one's easy_; his back hurt because he was in an awkward position, slumped up against a wall like he was – he made to move to try and lessen the pain only to find such motion was impossible; as he blearily swung his head around to try and find out what the impediment was he very quickly found himself answering both the other questions currently occupying his mind, not to mention jolting his systems back on line with a nasty kiss of shock. Hastily disentangling his nose and jaw from Mighty's middle, the crocodile suddenly froze for a moment, trying to bully his thoughts back into line and work out what had happened to bring the two of them together like this – he had a vague idea but the picture was fuzzy, he needed to get it clearer to make sure he could explain himself when the armadillo opened her squeezed-shut eyes and stopped shivering so badly. A moment later, however, a moment of almost solid brainwork and excruciating recollections, and the ice he'd locked around his body thawed slowly in the heat of his realisation; gently he relaxed and brought the arm that still lapped around the armadillo's shell upwards and around even further, one finger extended and flexing until it touched what it was aiming for. Slowly and gently, not daring to look around in case he ended up disturbing the armadillo more so having to work by touch alone, Vector managed to locate the end of his companions' ear and, after a little more stretching, the side of his finger was caressing the soft fur on her cheek. _Bloody hell Michelle_; the thought swirled in his head just as badly as the bile swirled around his stomach; _how'd it come to this? How'd we end up having to hold on like this because everything went belly-up so fast?_

Eventually his soothing contact worked and the whimpering to the side of him began to end slowly; not letting up in his work, the crocodile whispered softly into the dark of the night to the only ears left in the building that could hear him,

"Shhh", like steam escaping a boiler he repeated himself, managing to move his arms again as Mighty slowly began to relax her comforting, constricting hold, "come on Mich, lemme up now; we can' jus' sit 'ere an' 'ope, we gotta go forwards now". At his words the armadillo's arms sloughed off completely, a sniffle in the dingy hallway as something large shifted position next to him in,

"Forwards?" The word wasn't intentionally harsh; it was simply the lack of feeling in the expulsion of syllables made it seem that way, "forwards to what Vec? What's there to look forwards to in all this bloody mess?" The crocodile said nothing, simply letting the words wash over him pointlessly; he recognised the pain and frustrated anger in the words but didn't react to it – he'd felt too much of that already to be able to accept any more. All he could do was answer with the simple, and awful, truth,

"Nuthin'", bracing his hands behind him, he somehow heaved himself up to his feet again, swaying as though drunk for a moment before catching his balance again, "bu' we gotta do sumthin' Might, just 'cause o'what's cumin' next", he sensed rather than heard the movement behind him, the armadillo looking up at him as he turned towards her, offering his hand to help haul her to her feet, "ferget 'ow we feel 'bout this mess babe; 'ow're we s'posed t'tell Charm wa's goin' on now?"

_Oh Jesus_; how had the bee slipped her mind, how was it mentally or emotionally possible for that to happen – Mighty felt her face fall into her hands again as the full implications of the crocodiles' words crashed down on her like a barrage of fists. Misery piled upon misery in her mind as one after another, scenarios of doom paraded in front of her eyes, a black catwalk of utter gloom as she was unable to picture her friend's reaction to this; despite having been of age almost two months now, there was no way he should have to deal with something like this, not when there was so much more he could offer to life. In that moment, more than any other she'd been faced with in her life, the armadillo wanted nothing more than to give up, to sit back here in this corner and watch the world and all its cruelties pass by but she couldn't; someone else here wouldn't let her. The great green hand in front of her face wouldn't go away no matter how often she shied from it; in the end she had no option but to reach up and seize the thick fingers, let them drag her back up to her feet and hold her there until she was able to catch her balance. Rocking where she was for a moment, the armadillo looked up into the crocodile's drawn, pinched face and shook her head,

"I can't", her voice was a whisper, as thin and ghost-like as her body now felt, drained of its usual strength, "sorry Vec, I just can't do it".

"Ya don' 'ave to", the crocodile assured her and never had she been more grateful for his presence, a rock she could lean on when her own endurance was finally exhausted, "lemme do the talkin' an' you jus' be there t'catch 'im if it looks like anythin's really gonna 'it the fan".

Whatever Mighty might have wanted to say to that, she was left no time to answer as at that moment, with the characteristic rippling, zipping noise all the Chaotix knew so well, the teleporter in the basement finally fizzled into life, Charmy having finally finished whatever had been occupying his attention and coming home to a nightmare he'd had no time to prepare for.

XXX

It hit him like a solid brick wall the second the concealed entrance slid up smoothly into the ceiling; with the power of a lion's roar the unnatural stillness blasted over and around him, making him shiver slightly as he clutched the still-warm bag and still-chilled half-bottle of white wine, the reward the guardians had given him for his lovingly devoted restoration of their leaking home, closer to him. Eyes darting to the ceiling nervously, Charmy wondered just what could have inspired such a feeling of dread in him then – never before had his danger sense sent such blaring signals up through his mind than it had then, but why; _though, thinking about it…_

What could have happened this time; as if it hadn't been bad enough when the she'd had to be dragged bodily out her room by Mighty, now what could she have done to cause this? _Not like I'm going to find out sitting here though_; recognising the truth in that statement, the bee girdered his lions and took a step forwards, turning instinctively to his right to begin ascending the stairs that led to the hallway, the atmosphere bearing down on him ever more oppressively with every step he took upwards. Swiftly jiggling the bundles he held so he could hold them in one hand, the other quickly turned the door knob that just a little way ahead of him; it sprung suddenly, the motion almost sending him sprawling onto the carpet outside the door. _Okay, just hope no-one saw that – ah_; all hopes of salvaging his pride were banished as two shadowy silhouettes appeared in his peripheral vision; _scratch that idea then_; doing his best to stop himself blushing, the bee drew himself upright and attempted to wrest command of the situation in order to limit the damage to his pride,

"Okay you two", he barked in what he hoped was an orderly tone, "got some nibbles here, might still be hot if we hurry; bung a couple of plates under the grill and we'll go from there hey?" Strangely enough, especially considering how much of a cavern Vector's stomach was at the best of time, and Mighty wasn't shy of piling on the pounds as well if she could get away with it, no-one moved – in fact the bee was on the cusp of repeating himself when with a series of shuffling steps, the taller of the two figures came forwards and low words rustled through the night air,

"Charmy", the voice made the bee's antennae prickle; _when was the last time he called me that?_; "lissen pal, we gotta talk an', an' it's gotta be now – I really wish it didn't but I can't sugar-coat it", the shadow in front of him drew itself up as tall as it could make itself and against the sinister growth of the silhouette the bee shrank back despite himself, "it's Espio Charmy, she's…she's a lot more screwed up in the head than any'a us coulda known; she's been, been cutting, Charmy – do you know what I mean by that?"

XXX

_Yeah_; hating himself but unable to feel much of the emotion, deadened by the monstrous truths that had emerged tonight, Vector took the way the bee lost his grip on both doggy-bag and wine bottle as answer; _yeah I guess you do_. Clear, sparkling wine and food juices rushed from their containment, probably staining the hall carpet beyond redemption as the bee pressed his palms into his eyes, screwing them in place as though hoping to drive the truth from his head by sheer physical pressure alone. Unable to help him this time Vector stood away, arms folded and fingers leaving grooves even though his thick scales, teeth grinding together as he once more felt the fury, smouldering up until now, catch light again – only one Mobian was responsible for this, one who'd lied, cheated and at the death run away rather than face the consequences for what she'd done. Espio and Espio alone was responsible and for this pain, the pain he could see tearing Charmy apart before his eyes and was helpless to prevent, there would be a punishment unlike anything seen before by the team; _oh yes_; the crocodile swore to himself as Charmy reeled, looking like he was going to be sick; _there's payment due from you Espio, and you're well overdue now!_;

"Charm", rage robbing him of words, the crocodile was grateful when someone else stepped manfully into the breach, "Charmy Bee, don't you dare blame yourself for this…"

"But…"

"No buts", Mighty forestalled him with a curt, upraised hand even if her voice was still trembling and high-pitched, "I just spend the last God-knows-how long hauling Vector off his tail, I'm not going to do the same with you, understand? It's just her", the armadillo spat the word like a slur, "her and her stupidity, and that's not the right word I know".

"No, you're right"; _thank you_; as the voice answered her after a moment's pause Vector felt himself sag – here at least was something they could salvage from the train-wreck this evening had turned out to be, "stupidity isn't the right word for what Esp's done, but", still with his hands fixed to his eyes Charmy stood up straight, the light spilling from the kitchen glinting horribly off his teeth as he choked the last words out, "but it's right for me Mighty; I could've stopped this, should've bloody done what everyone tells me to do and listened to myself, but I didn't", nothing was going to stop him now and neither of the other two even tried to stop him; both were mute passengers as the train of Charmy's thought that had been chugging away in the background suddenly derailed catastrophically into an explosion of ire and crippling, crippling self-guilt. Barely able to breathe through the squeeze in his neck and clenched teeth, the bee nevertheless took down as much of a breath as he was able to and, kneeling at a block his own inaction had built around his feet, gave himself up to the blade and let the axe fall,

"My…my razor…"

XXX

Vector heard the words, but he didn't react to them; still numb, his senses broken by the immense weight of the worries that had burdened them over the past few hours, the crocodile couldn't find it within himself to deal with yet another gross injustice in the world right now. As it was, he therefore simply stepped forwards and wrapped an arm around the bee's shoulder, ignoring the chink of glass under his boot as the wine bottle protested at being stood on; his younger companion's shoulders hitched under his forearm he simply stayed where he was, one part of his logical mind idly chiming in that this was probably a good thing on the whole – the more tears there were now, the less chance there was of something going horribly wrong later on. _Or at least_; again, the thought echoed in his mind but he paid little attention to it, merely letting it sound off without paying any attention to its main message; _nothing else going horribly wrong later on – there's enough going horribly wrong now as it is_.

He could possibly have stayed where he was all night, just a pillar for the bee to lean against until he'd finished his lamentations at cruel fate and her whims; however, due to the actions of another his hand was forced and, as the boom of the front door slamming reached his ears and made him quiver, he knew he had to uproot himself now if he was save any hope of his team staying together. Dropping to one knee, he forced the bee in his arms to look him in the eye,

"Charm, Charmy, lissen", he waited a torturous heartbeat for the bee to wipe his eyes and sniff noisily before carrying on, "I gotta, gotta go fer a minute, no, I'm jus' gonna get Might back, tha's all I swear".

"Mighty?" The bee spoke the name as though he'd never heard it before, leaning to the side and looking past the crocodile's back to see the now-desolate hallway, "What…?"

"She's gone, I gotta get'er back", the crocodile cut in, every second precious and every second now lost a tragedy, "wait 'ere Charm, can ya do that fer me?" He didn't strictly speaking wait for an answer, the merest hint of a nod his answer and with that he was gone, racing to the front door with his heart tolling in his ears like a distant bell, wrenching it open and passing through it like the other two before him had.

Unlike the two of them, however, it was his intention, no, more than that, it was his _demand_, that he would come back with another of the lost ones with him; he would not let his team down.

The night air was bitter and sharp, stinging his tear-wetted eyes and drying even his huge jaws painfully; he had to squint to look down the road each way and for a brief, horrible second he thought he was too late, he'd lost her; a deeper shadow stirred in the darkness and for the first time in too long he felt a tiny flare of thankfulness rear up in his chest, making his breath hitch painfully. Lumbering forwards at as close to a run as he could manage, the crocodile set off blazing the trail his team mate had laid down, eyes glued to her back and never deviating as his voice, hoarse and ruined as it might have been, nevertheless preceded him,

"Mi, Mi…", he gulped down air greedily before trying again, "Michelle, stop where you are", the armadillo didn't stop, but her pace did slacken and, right now grateful for the smallest of mercies, the crocodile put on a last desperate spurt of energy to catch up to her, just at the corner of the road, "this won't help; even if y'could find 'er, wha' then? Any idea wha' yer'd do, or 'ow much trubble yer'd get in?" At his last words she did stop, so abruptly that Vector had to slam on the anchors to avoid cannoning into the back of her; only just avoiding toppling into the gutter and twisting his ankle, the crocodile battled down the sudden wave of panic that swept over him just in time to hear the armadillo's response,

"No, Vector I don't, and you know what", she gave a chuckle, just a short one, before turning around, letting him see her face again, "right now I really don't care".

Despite the reputation her formidable strength seemed to have garnered, Mighty was not as a general rule a naturally aggressive or angry person; looking at her even now, Vector swore that anger would be the wrong emotion to use to describe her current mental state. If anything she seemed more determined than usual, the set of her face and the posture of her body telling anyone in her path that to stay standing where they were was probably a sure-fire way of getting armadillo boot prints on their chest – the extent of the betrayal that had befallen them all, and most especially Charmy out of all of them, had congealed into a white-hot core of certainty that was forcing her onwards now. Despite his earlier words Vector knew that in this new and frightening state, Mighty was quite capable of completing the task she had set herself, of tracking the chameleon down and dragging her back on her hands and knees to face up to the damage she'd caused, and more worryingly that even that, she had the look of a person who could do it. _Don't shout, you out of all of us have to stay calm_; the fractional pause he had left to think in was vital – it allowed him to plan a way, not through the armadillo's impenetrable shield of truculence, but around it; _you've got to be tactful, logical – tell it like it is, but put the right sort of spin on it. First though_; he'd seen her draw in a breath and resigned himself; _let her say her piece_;

"I don't care, how rough she was feeling, or how sorry she is right now", the armadillo's voice was much like her expression; clipped, matter-of-fact and driven, absolutely driven to fulfil the new goal she had, "there's some things you just do not do Vector and this had got to be one of them. The…"she couldn't say the word itself, drawing the edge of her right hand roughly over the back of her left instead, the smile of her face curdling into one of distaste as she did so, "…that, I don't care about so much, it's her body she can do what she wants with it, but Charmy", her voice broke a touch; Vector had to hold in a breath of his own – sniffling or breaking down now would be fatal for both of them, "I don't care what anyone says Vector, that's, that is _desecration_!"

"I know, I know it is Mighty, and believe me I am as pissed about this as you are, in fact", he gave a gruff, ugly chuckle, hands balling into fists as he folded his arms, speech once again perfect as he forced himself to discount his usual mannerisms; he only had one shot at this, he had to get it right first time, "I'm even more so; I've known her the longest out of all of us – right now I feel like she's taken that blade and…" He drew his hand sharply over his chest; _that's it – way to go Mighty_; she was softening, resilient determination undermined by his reason and pulled down even further as he continued,

"…but I don't think about it, right now I can't because, like you say, I don't bloody matter. He matters", he pointed the way he'd come, the door to the home of the Chaotix still swinging open from where he'd barged it open, "in there, on his own and waiting for us. Come back Michelle", dropping his arm Vector gave up on everything else – he'd said what he could, now it was just a heartfelt plea to her that she could either accept or pay no heed to, "it isn't worth it, not now with all this bad karma running the show; you'll just do something you end up regretting forever", the armadillo snorted at this but remained where she was, hearing him out to the end, "we need to do something about Esp later I know that, and I do have a plan, but right now, now when it really matters, we need each other", it felt as heavy as lifting a tree-trunk but somehow the crocodile lifted his hand again, this time in front of him, his hand open towards where Mighty stood, "I need you more, just as bad as Charmy does, in fact worse because I need all the help I can get right now. Don't run off now Michelle – we need you back with us".

In that moment, with his hand outstretched, Vector felt the Chaotix, the team he had founded, nurtured and led for the entirety of his adult life, on the edge of a knife; he knew, knew with stone-sober certainty, that if Mighty turned away now and went hunting in the night for the wayward chameleon, that would be the end. He would somehow drag himself back inside, a broken, beaten Mobian, and that would be the last chapter of this phase of his life. He would survive, and so would Charmy, he'd make sure of that, but nothing else would matter; even if the armadillo could find Espio and the chameleon offered all the reparations in the world it wouldn't have been able to help; the Chaotix would have died in the dead of a cold winter night with just two members left to mourn its passing. He balanced on the edge himself, his future for the first time in the hands of others and he was alert of any movement of those hands; one of them twitched, he followed it with his eyes magnetically, trailed it all the way until, finally and with a soft tap as loud as a bullet breaking glass, he felt the hand of Mighty Armadillo deliver him from the nightmare in his head. Curling his fingers around hers gratefully, the crocodile stood where he was for a brief, brief moment, tears finally falling from his eyes and he was not ashamed of them now – this was not mourning, it was celebration as the worst, the worst must surely be behind them – this decision, made maturely with the full force of heart and head wrestling with each other, was the platform that marked absolute rock bottom; now they could once more start building their way out of the pit Espio had dumped them in.

"All right", the words were all that made him open his eyes again, blinking as the resident moisture in them smarted in the cold air, "right Vector; we've all trust you so far and you've not gone wrong", Mighty heaved down a great sigh, laboured in her breathing now as she lowered her head in capitulation, "I'll go with you again now. So, what do we do about her?"

XXX

Dispassionately she surveyed the scene before her and, disgusting as it was, it would have to do; right now she was too cold, too tired and in too much shock to try and find anything else. The bench on its own was sturdy enough, and the gaps between the slats of wood that made it up were slim enough to dissuade the worst of any rainstorm, but it was in slightly the wrong place; too out in the open, right out next to a path that pretty much bisected the little park she'd found. _Although_; already looking around for the next stage of her making her lodgings for the night, Espio felt the thought in her mind and idly mulled it over; _if it was further back, chances are it'd be surrounded by drink bottles, needles and vomit – it would on the lands below at least_. Thankful for even the smallest mercies at the moment, Espio quickly crossed to the park bench and squatted beside it, looking out across towards the road that the park backed onto – ah, that was something, she wouldn't be visible from the main road here, less chance of having a night's sleep disturbed by the rush of traffic, and as an added bonus, less chance of a cruising police car picking her out in the darkness and moving her on. The mere reminder of the one night she had suffered in the custody of law enforcement was enough to make her scowl now; though the bed for the night had been worth having, what the police had delivered her back to had been almost enough to tempt her into assaulting the desk sergeant and getting banged up for a full week or so.

Banishing these thoughts to the back of her mind for now, the chameleon stalked over to the two bins that stood a few paces from where the bench stood; obviously intended for families glutted upon a day at the park to empty the remains for picnics into in the summer time, their appeal and, therefore, their value to the chameleon now was much diminished in winter. The first one was nearly empty and Espio shook her head; though not essential, she was hoping her luck would have held out to snag a couple of old newspapers for something like a blanket between both the earth and the sky – she flicked her foot out at the other and, upon hearing the distinctive rustle of disturbed rubbish, her interest was likewise stimulated. Quickly lifting the lid, she peered inside and breathed out a sigh of relief; darting her right hand inside, the chameleon scavenged the two papers she could see and, after quickly checking them to make sure the hadn't been stained too badly by anything else in the garbage stew, was about to dart back to the bench to get itself when something else caught her eye. Intrigued, she looked again, craning her neck and the same time as holding her breath to get a better view; the shape lying there was indistinct, a hazy shadow in the gloom of the night that she thought she should have recognised. Maybe if she squinted a bit…

It hit her suddenly and she stood up, very still and very straight; only just able to keep hold of the papers in her arms, Espio found herself staring at the piece of rubbish in front of her, a film of tears suddenly clouding her eyes as she had to fight for breath over this ragged, ruined scrap of clothing.

It was a limp, small and pathetic thing, ragged and completely worn through and stained beyond redemption by what looked like a sauce of some kind, but to the chameleon on that dark night the discarded glove that she'd found in the bin was worth more than anything else in the world right then. Reaching down reverentially, Espio picked the little glove up to get a better look at it, holding it up to the meagre light the streetlamps nearby cast on the scene and blinking away the traces of her tears to make sure of what she was seeing. Miraculously this blessing from above was left-handed, exactly what she needed right now and more than enough to suffice; slipping her hand into its rough confines was like sliding her maimed hand into liquid silk. Though the tip of her ring finger was still exposed as the material was ripped away there and it pinched a little around the wrist and back of her hand, it was more than Espio could ever have hoped for or expected, one little bright spot at the end of the day that had seen her world shifted violently on its axis. Softly caressing the material on her palm, she took in another deep breath and stood up, letting the bin fall shut with a sharp clang as her now newly-covered hand swept down and swept up the newspapers at her feet, hefting them aloft and making the next part of the proceedings seem just a little bit more bearable than they had been up until now.

Dropping to her hands and knees next to the park bench, the chameleon quickly arranged some of the paper she'd scavenged to cover the rough ground in a thin veneer of wood pulp; when she was satisfied, as much as it was possible to take satisfaction from such a demeaning endeavour, she ducked her head and crawled inside the new burrow she'd just decorated. Laying on her back she grimaced as she felt hard fingers of earth poking up at her, ridged contours of paper riding up against her scales; pushing herself up as much as she could in the confined spaces, the chameleon smoothed out as much as she could with her hands and spare waddings of paper, she accepted an almost-negligible improvement as the best she was going to get and reached out to grab the rest of her as-yet unused blanketing. Spread out on top of her, it was a miserably thin shield against the cruelty of Mother Nature's sharp teeth but as it was all she had she was forced to accept it with squared shoulders and fatalistic resolve.

Rolling onto her side and immediately regretting the action as newspaper wrinkled up under her body's shift in position, Espio closed her eyes and tried to forget what had just happened, the injustice that had befallen her and the predicament it had landed her in; attempting to drift off into sleep, the chameleon found the struggle a strangely long experience that, somehow, left her weary and exhausting long before slumber eventually claimed her. _But, overall_; her last conscious thought before finally giving up to the realm of dreams was one that put something like a smile on her lips, albeit a sour, grim little edge of a smile; _the struggle doesn't matter – all that's important is that I succeeded in the end._

_I always succeed in the end…_

XXX

As he'd admit later, when they'd all sat down and recognised the circumstances for what they actually had been in the most lightless of nights, it was a strange sort of irony that forced Charmy Bee to learn a lesson from the one he'd taught it to originally; as he'd unwittingly shown Mighty a few weeks earlier, the scariest second of any circumstance is when you think those false facts you are presented with are actually the reality of the situation.

In the short space of time when the front door had swung open and he'd seen only Vector the bee had broken down utterly, sobbing into his cupped hands; when the shadows at the gate had parted a little to allow another shape forwards and his blurry vision could focus on it he only cried even harder, completely wrung dry of tears by events beyond either his experience or control. The latter stages of his lamentations, however, were framed by a fixed grin underneath his streaming eyes; much like the expressions on his two contemporise, the insect perhaps realised that the worst, terrible as that might have been, was ultimately behind them all – the three of them were together still despite the dagger of betrayal that had plunged to the hilt into each of them individually; they had been strong enough to resist that potent venom by holding together, there was nothing more deadly that that going to happen to them tonight. However, just because what was now in the past was the past that didn't stop it hurting in a multitude of dimensions; mentally, emotionally and, in Vector's case, physically to a very limited degree as his wrist had begun to swell up a little where Mighty had crushed it to stop him piling into Espio's prostrate form, all three of the Chaotix were wounded and cut up deep inside; nothing meaningful could be done before that agony had passed. Slowly, Charmy pulled himself up from where he had been huddled on the floor in as small a ball as he could make himself, tottered forwards a few steps and then half-stumbled, half-fell into Vector's arms, sobbing openly, unable to stop himself and not caring in the slightest as he felt Mighty joining the huddle from one side.

Together again, united in grief and confusion but united still, the Chaotix grieved in each others' arms; shouldering a burden that would have broken any one of them individually on their collective backs, the trio braced each other up at the lowest ebb and, as the oceans of tears and seas of anguishes lashed around them, began to collectively rediscover their mettle in the heart of the storm.

Charmy stood back from the other two first; as the one to instigate these proceedings, it was perhaps only fair that he should be the one who called an end to the wretched lamentations. Standing tall and pausing only fractionally to wipe his eyes with the back of his sleeve, the bee looked up at the other two and shook himself down, eyes bloodshot through tears but now glinting dangerously, a sharpened spear of steel now piercing his earlier weakness and probing forwards to burst the boil that had caused all this strife and pain.

"Okay you two", his voice was soft but all the more powerful for that; Vector and Mighty simply watched on and nodded as he pointed out the way for them, "if you go in there, I'll get that mess sorted out, then we'll sit down together and, and at least try to sort out the bigger problem that bloody reptile's left us with. That okay?"

"Yeah", the other two breathed in a chorus, Mighty leading the way and carefully stepping over the stagnant mush that had been Charmy's reward for a job well done, ruined now like so many other things by Espio's callous, unthinking act of treachery. As the bee busied himself under the sink to locate washcloths and a basin to transfer the mess to, the others sat at the table, thinking now, clear and alert in the night time, plotting their next moves in the dangerous game their team mate had set down, trying to work a way out of the stalemate she'd placed them all in.

XXX

Smothering, a crushing weight pressing down on her chest, covering her mouth and clogging her nostrils; she couldn't breathe and, despite trying to kick the massive burden off her face, she couldn't move it. She was passing out, there was no air in her lungs and she panicked, there at the last – she was going to die unless she could manage to somehow choke down some air. Thrashing around now, feeling her leaden limbs move a little in response to her frenetic mental commands, finally there was some progress; gathering the pitiful scraps of her remaining energy and kindling them together with her desperation, she made one final effort, threw herself forwards with all the force of a Mobian that had nothing left to lose, and crashed against the barrier…

…and woke up, into a world of chill that suddenly exploded into flaring pulses of agony.

Kicking around reflexively only made matters worse; trapped as she was underneath the bench she'd slept under, Espio's flailing limbs only struck the metal struts supporting the sturdy little contraption and succeeded in bruising themselves as she clapped both hands to just under her horn, the place where the pain was most acute as she'd tried to sit up straight from sleep. Still with her eyes squeezed tightly shut, the chameleon relied on touch and feeling alone to tell her how bad the damage was; though it stung like an angry vixen, there was no denying that she'd been a little lucky as her horn had absorbed the worst of the impact; a normal Mobian would have broken their nose at best from an impact that hard. _Ouch, ow, ow, owww!_; though not strictly part of the ninja's way, right now it was all she had clouding her mind as the wind whistled painfully through her damaged portion, though eventually the flares of agony began to dim and her senses began to return slowly; _auuugh, now what? Where…oh, yeah_; she knew where she was and, more damagingly, why she was there – the events of last night were still enough to make her wince now so she stopped thinking about them, trying to focus on something a little more positive; _so, what's next to do, and while we're on the subject_; her face wrinkled as she realised that one of the things making her currant situation unpleasant actually wasn't in her mind; _what the hell is that smell?_

Blinking her eyes open, the picture was at first a little fuzzy, not least because it was still mostly dark; dawn was just beginning to stain the bottom of the sky a darker shade of blue, but for the most part if was still gloomy enough to warrant the street lights to still be operating. Shifting her hands off her face Espio heard the paper that had covered her last night tear and crumpled, the shock of a sudden cold making her quickly raise them again; right now, with no real way of her getting heat into her body, losing even moderate amounts of heat in this environment could be very serious indeed. _Must be the condensation_; looking down her still-shrouded body the chameleon realised that the paper had protected her from the worst of it but, right now, she had to take every precaution she could and even then, it'd be a crossing-the-fingers job to make sure she pulled through. Carefully wriggling her way out the head of her paper cocoon, she made it to her hands and knees before pulling down a deep breath and standing up, trying to size up the situation she now found herself in and trying to take whatever positives she could from the situation. _Still got my life_; and even that had been in jeopardy at one stage – even now she thought back and shivered at the look in the crocodiles' eyes; _and my health, that's something to be thankful for, not to…urgh!_

What was that on her hand; a disgusting little rag wrapped around the back of her hand; lips creased in extreme distaste, the chameleon brought it to her eyelevel and sniffed imperiously; _well, at least I know what the bad smell was now – what was I thinking last night?_ The remnants of a glove, what had been a miracle then, was now in the cold light of the dawn revealed as a sham, a pathetic shadow of the promise it had been – how much poetic justice had it taken for her to find such a false prophet of hope, she who'd been an oblique sort of lie all her life? She wanted nothing less than to rip it free and cast it away but here her hand was tied; her scabs were still visible and nothing her skin could do was going to make them less noticeable so she was stuck with the stained scrap of fabric for now. Disregarding the matter as much as she was able to, though she couldn't help but feel a little crushed by the soul-grinding revelation that this one bright spot in her life had been exposed as more of a biting firefly, the chameleon looked at what else she had on her and sighed impatiently; _nothing, or at least not very much. Lucky I always keep a few spare coins in my phone holster_; her self-reliance was once again her salvation and as the brainwave swept over her, she hastily upended her impromptu money pouch and counted out her cash – enough to buy a hot coffee or something a greasy spoon, maybe enough to stretch to a second meal too.

It was enough to be getting on with, that was all that mattered; as she conscientiously picked up the rubbish that had up until recently been her blankets and duvet and threw them back into the bin, she repeated the thought like a mantra, drawing her mind away from the pressing question of what she'd do when her meagre funds were reduced to nothing, and she was left alone with no resources again, and she couldn't count as being as lucky as she had been once before; strokes of luck like him only came along once in a lifetime, of that she was certain.

XXX

The timing had gotten so exact that Mighty didn't even have to look at the clock to know it was time; gritting her teeth as the bags under her eyes threatened to drag them shut, the armadillo stretched off uncomfortably and looked meaningfully at her bedroom door; _okay you, open says me_. Swinging her legs off her bed and setting her pen down, the letter to her boyfriend remaining steadfastly unwritten despite her giving up most of the morning to try and get it penned properly, she stood up and headed out, throwing open the portal in her way with a practised ease. She was at the head of the stairs when a voice, a voice a world away from its usual chirpy happiness of a tone, spoke out to stop her,

"You don't have to do this, you know?" Biting back a sigh, the armadillo pivoted on her heel as Charmy descended from where he'd been hovering at ceiling level,

"How long have you spying up there?"

"Don't change the subject", the insect responded flatly, his arms folded and his face set sternly, "I mean what I say Might; I can do this one, it's not your turn". At this Mighty really did sigh, though not through annoyance or exasperation; instead she looked at her friend and beckoned him a little closer, her voice dropping to a softer, more expressive note as she explained her reasoning,

"I know Charm, and I've got no illusions that you could do just that and knock them dead today, but no", she shook her head as much as her shell would let her, "this is something I need to do; don't ask me why but I know it's got to be me. Call it irrational, call it female intuition or whatever you like, but the fact is I need to get out of this place, if only for a couple of hours; if nothing else", her face clouded over and Charmy likewise let a more warlike aspect mask his expression as her tone hardened to flint, "I'll need that time to get ready for tonight – it's going to take a lot for me to swallow my temper this time. And anyway, Vec could probably use you in the kitchen", all at once her eyes were bright and clear again, the shade of violence banished from her posture as she winked roguishly, "we both know he needs all the help he can get". Charmy chuckled for a minute, joining in the joke before a rumble from below made the pair of them jump,

"I 'eard that", the crocodile's irritated growl ploughed its way over like a sack of gravel being dragged along hard earth, though it lowered a little a second later as he spoke again, "sayin' tha' though, might need ya t'run a coupla errands Charm. Got a list 'ere waitin' fer ya, oh an' 'fore ya get goin' Might, inta th'kitchen; in fact, both o'ya come down".

Both swapped a glance before giving up the unspoken guesswork and trooping down the stairs, Mighty in the lead as thoughts and ideas about what the crocodile wanted swirled around in her mind; _maybe it's the plan. Though, if it is – well he's had a night to sleep on it I suppose_; that in itself was enough to be getting on with – since the previous night when the head of the Chaotix had elaborated on the statement he'd made to her to a very limited degree, very little else had been occupying her mind. Though he'd been almost deliberately vague on the details she still stood by what she'd said that night; she'd trusted him this far, she'd stick with him now, and obviously Charmy must have felt the same way as he wasn't going anywhere fast. Coming into the room where they'd all spent the previous night drying their eyes and trying to come to terms with things as they were now, the armadillo shimmied to the side to let Charmy in as well; the insect had just passed beyond the door jamb when, almost as though he'd timed it with a stopwatch, Vector turned from where he was fussing over pots and pans in the cupboards and faced the pair of them. As that familiar face regarded her own with huge, almost saucer eyes puffed up still from crying all the previous night, the armadillo felt a hole open in the bottom of her stomach, filled only slowly by the bile she now felt towards he one who'd cause all this suffering.

Out of the remaining Chaotix trio Vector looked by far the worst affected by the calamity that had befallen them, though maybe that was understandable; he had, after all, been the first one to figure out just how deep down this problem had gone and had therefore been hit all the harder by the fallout. He looked like a thin, pale ghost of his former self, worn to the thickness of a thread by continual worry and loss of tears but possessed now of a desperate, almost frenetic energy that drove him ever onwards. How long he'd been down here Mighty had no idea but he'd been up well before she had stirred from her pit; she'd heard his clod-hoppers pounding the carpet by her bedroom door while she'd been pulling the blanket up over her head and trying to get back to sleep. Even now as he was speaking to them his hands were busy with this and that, apparently driven by autopilot alone as he seemed to focus all his attention on the pair of them,

"Good, glad I caught th' pair o'ya", he intoned, nodding at each of them before continuing as they bobbed their heads back at him, "lissen Might, I'm grateful fer wha'yer doin' an' Charm, you should be too", the insect seemed to recoil from this rebuke but Vector gave him no chance to register his indignation, "an' like ya said Might, I need ya t'run an' get a coupla things, we're a few 'grediants short. Main thin' though, won't keep ya long; when all this goes down t'night once I start me plan, an' you'll know when I've started, it'll be bloody obvious, don' stop me; I mean it", he sounded suddenly stern at this point, staring both of them in the eye as he did so, "an' I want yer words yer'll keep t'yerselves 'til it's over, one way or anuther".

He could almost see the two of them stood where they were, virtually see the cogs turning in their heads as he watched on; in fact he was betting with himself who'd the one to break the silence before he was forced to give that wager up – Charmy had spoken before he could seal the deal,

"Okay Vec, just one thing though – can we…?"

"No ya can't, an' don' get me wrong 'ere, it's not 'cause I'm 'oldin' out on ya, no'xactly any'ow", the crocodile felt he wasn't explaining himself very well here and tried to break off the conversation as best he could, "fact is I dunno if I'cun go through wi'it yet, least o'all 'cause it relies on Esp 'erself turnin' up in the furst place. Bu' any'ow, fact o'the matter is", he drew himself up to his full height, imposing despite the deep riverbeds grief had scratched under his eyes, "I still wanna 'ear it, frum yer own mouths too – when it all 'it's the fan, neither o'ya are ta 'it the stop button, got it?"

"Vec", Mighty tried to step in, thrown a little off track by the line he was taking in this and vaguely worried about what it might mean in the near future, "I trust you still, I said that last night and I stick by it, but this is going…"

"Yer word Michelle", the crocodile intoned solemnly, "I ain't budging 'til I got it". The armadillo stood up, not used to being ordered around in this manner and chafing at the idea of it; a thousand counter-arguments to this secrecy stood out in her mind and she was sure she could pick out just one or two of them to undermine her team mates' logic. It was then she looked up at his face again and realised that all her grand ideas and schemes were worth absolutely nothing in the face of such obtuse, deep-rooted resistance,

"Right", her lips barely moved as she made the admission but they moved enough, "okay Vec, you've got me on this one".

"Thanks Might, mean a lot. Charm?"

"Okay".

"Good", just at those two admissions the crocodile suddenly seemed to breathe much easier even as his team mates were reduced to choking back tears and heavy breathing, "means a lot pair o'ya. Now, to bus'ness", he clapped his hands, brisk and clipped once more as he directed his team, "you best get movin' 'fore the guardians realised they're a man down; Charm, list's on th'table, I'll square wi'ya when ya get back. See ya tonite, an' wi'a bitta luck", he thumbed his phone in his pocket, hoping against hope that even the first part of his insane idea would work at all, "we won' be dinin' alone this evenin'".

XXX

As always the feeling of disorientation that the armadillo now accepted as part and parcel of the entire teleportation process wore off by the end of the short walk towards the main shrine of the Master Emerald, just in time to let her see the retreating back of the one she'd come to replace just before Rouge noticed her arrive,

"Hey batgirl", as always, the ex-spy's face wrinkled up in distaste at the rough nickname but Mighty carried on regardless, "how was the food last night; I never got much of a look-in with everyone else piling in the second Charm stepped off the pad".

"The meal, as it always is when Wyn's got pots and pans in his hand", Rouge inclined her head respectfully towards her in-laws' skill in the kitchen before patting her belly in a satisfied manner, "was absolutely divine, and take it from me it's only going to get better from tonight". Intrigued more by the look of impending mischief on her friend's face than her actual words, Mighty leaned in a little closer as the bat came back into the shrine itself, not in such a hurry to move off as she now had someone to talk to,

"Okay, where've you got eyed up tonight then? You've not sweet-talked Knucks into a bank job have you – I know he's got a bit of pull with the EST these days but that'd be pushing it surely?" Rouge came to an abrupt halt and sniffed as though offended, folding her arms tightly across her chest as she answered,

"As if the EST would come even close to realising it was me if I did decide to crack a safe in this town? Anyway, for your information no, I've put those days firmly behind me, for the most part anyway; next on the shopping list's Haven, something like the anniversary of the first guardian's birth, or his death, one of the two – either way, a chance for me and the other half to get our claws into the supposedly whiter-than-white former guardians. Can't wait!"

"Wait for what?" Perplexed by both this news and Rouge's, in her eyes, completely over the top reaction to a visit to the ancestral home of the Brotherhood of Guardians she herself would have dreaded, Mighty was slightly in the dark about what she should have been getting excited about, "Sort yourself out girl; what're you stringing the Brotherhood up for this time? They've not been that bad surely, one obvious exception permitting – as far as I'm concerned hand me the block and executioner's hood and I'd swing the axe myself". Rouge sniggered; _you two never did rub shoulders did you?_;

"Ah he's not that terrible; as far as I heard last time he's been decorating his room for the past two weeks; the whole thing, even the floor and the ceiling as well, covered in posters completely – he said it needed brightening up a spot. Anyway, sorry I forgot", the bat shook her head at her memory lapse; _of course, she wasn't here over the holidays was she?_; "Shadow's got a tape you really need to see sometime; trust me it's an absolute scream". The armadillo snorted tiredly, fighting not to yawn as the lateness of the previous night ate away at her; though most of the time she counted Rouge as something akin to a cross between a surrogate sister and best friend, right now she really wished the bat would just leave her alone for now, let her get through this shift in peace.

"I'll take your word for it. Anyway, good luck for tonight; give the guys my best, and Athair my best left cross".

"Aww, don't be mean, he always means well", the bat defended her second-favourite guardian after her husband before catching a glimpse of the armadillo's face for the first time, "forget him though, what happened Might, you look like you haven't slept in days!"

"Gah, my own fault", definitely not trusting herself to even skirt around the turmoil of last night the armadillo instead threw up a hand as a casual shield, looking away as though embarrassed as she answered, "something on I wanted to watch, chopped in half by the news; did I think to set the video? No, of course not – like a mug I ended up sitting and watching the whole thing, hence the panda eyes today". The bat stifled a smile and giggle, hands on her hips as she viewed her friend in a more sympathetic light in lieu of this new news,

"Oh, not good I take it? Okay, so, hang on, why are you here in the first place?"; _you had to ask didn't you?_; though she hadn't been exactly expecting the bat to forget, a little slip of her friend's memory would have been most timely right about then, "isn't Charmy on the list for now?"

"He is but we swapped shifts", the armadillo intoned heavily, shrugging as Rouge looked on disbelievingly, "yeah I know how I look now, but I said I'd do it an when I woke up this morning he was long gone, no chance of taking it back".

"Ah, the old you-were-tired-and-his-feet-were-hot-trick huh? Well in that case I won't keep you awake," stepping back a bit the bat jerked her head towards the shrine exit, "I'll give you a bit of breathing room, or sleeping room as the case may be; we're not going to mind you catching a quick forty winks, not after what you did at the reef at least"; _thank you_; right now having been reminded of her tiredness, sleep was starting to sing an enchanting lullaby that Mighty was finding hard to resist, "and I need as much practise as I can get delivering the killer lines; take it from me it won't just be Knuckles leaving Haven tonight with a red face".

"You are evil sometimes, you know that?" The bat just smirked ever deeper at that comment,

"Oh yeah, I keep getting reminded; still no-one complains, least of all Knuckles". It was Mightys' turn to smile at this comment as she launched her next line,

"Would he dare?"

"What do you think?"

"Something along those lines"; just by the bats' expression it was obvious what was running through her head and Mighty couldn't help but agree with her thoughts, "anyway, shoo", she wafted her hands towards the exit, "some of us aren't as naturally blessed as you – I need all the beauty sleep I can get".

"I've never heard Big complain"; Mighty snorted, chuckling at her friend's quip as Rouge smiled knowingly,

"You really think he'd dare?" Rouge pouted for a second, an eyebrow raised in salute as she accepted her own line being spun against her just this once,

"Touché; still", she stretched up with her arms and out with her wings before shooting the armadillo a wink, "I'm making tracks – tell you how it goes tomorrow".

"See you baby; go knock 'em dead"; _and just pray_; the thought came to her as soon as the last vestiges of the bat's wings were lost to view and it sickened her; _that I don't end up doing the same later on_.

Though the thought was repugnant Mighty couldn't help but give it credit – almost uniquely in the armadillo's mindset, her team mate had crossed the last line so brazenly and with such spectacular results that yes, Mighty would have had to say truthfully that had she met the chameleon out in open, she wouldn't have been able to say hand on heart that she wouldn't have just gone in swinging and to hell with the consequences. Metal Sonic was the only other creature that came to her mind as deserving the same sort of treatment and that scared her; despite her tiredness, she tried to stave off sleep to answer her dilemma; could she trust herself if or when the chameleon came crawling back?

Her last thought, or at least the last one she could remember before finally giving up her struggle and drifting off, was one of ambivalence, one that didn't answer her query either way; _worst come to worst, we'll just have to take it as it comes…_

XXX

_Shut up_; Espio mentally chided her own body as part of it gave yet another despairing gurgle; _if you want to eat tonight you're going to have to live with skipping breakfast for a bit_. Though, strictly speaking that wasn't all that true – after all, for the work she'd done with the Chaotix she was fully entitled to a quarter of their combined bank balance so finding a cash machine and creaming off some currency was an option for her, yet strangely it was one she found herself loath to take. By carefully rationing herself to a cup of coffee earlier in the day she had enough left for, if not a feast, then certainly a full meal later on as long as she didn't go anything like up-market with her eating habits. Striding through the streets as she had been all morning, Espio again pulled up her glove and kept her eyes open as she walked around, ever watchful for a vacancy in a window, a little job she could do, something that would give her the edge she needed to get back on her feet; _preferably something where they won't mind the fact I'm in a bedsit while I'm working for them. Damn_; shaking her head as the memories swarmed over her like a cloud of disturbed mosquitoes, the chameleon gritted her teeth; _I've had enough of places like that already. I am not going back there again, not unless I have no choice, and not for very long even if I do_; but, she recognised, therein lay the rub, for right now at this moment she had no choice. The only thing she wanted less than to repeat past experiences in homeless shelters was to repeat experiences akin to last night, the lesser of two evils the only path she could feasibly take. Dragging her feet, Espio did what she knew she had to do, even if deep inside a part of her she'd tried to kill off screamed that there was another way it was ignored completely; the only way was forwards and, though the path up ahead looked forbidding and choked with weeds, the chameleon drew herself up and, one leaden step at a time, started to trudge ahead down it.

"Hey, Esp"; _eh?_; lost in her morbid thoughts for a moment it took the chameleon a minute to realise she was being spoken to, and only the flash of steel in her vision as she looked around for the source of the voice let her stick a name to the voice hailing her from across the street, "that you – oh, sorry, talk later, gotta run now".

Espio would freely admit in later times that standing there, stunned and scratching the skin under the back of her frill with one bemused hand, what passed before her eyes was one of the most surreal visions she'd ever come across up to that point. Across the road from her what looked like a one-echidna steam train was clearing the pavement of pedestrians, the few other Mobians around leaping aside as their augmented counterpart ducked and weaved between them. Sweatband keeping her dreadlocks in check, Julie-Su carried on her run not caring of the odd looks she was getting from the passers-by she left in her wake, Espio amongst them; _I thought she didn't like training outside? Oh, never mind that_; it wasn't something she'd have normally done but these were not normal times by any stretch of the imagination – wanting just a friendly face to talk to, the chameleon picked up her own pace and began to run parallel to her echidna acquaintance; moving a lot more skilfully and quickly due to her lighter build and much greater experience of street running, she was able to catch up just a few hundred yards down the road and, after quickly checking for traffic, nip across the street to draw level with the ex-Legionnaire. Breathing in normally, Julie's pace not being anything like taxing compared to the one she usually trained to, the chameleon was able to speak quite clearly out the corner of her mouth as the two of them raced on,

"So, what brings you out…?"

"Not", the chameleon glanced over in time to see her acquaintance snatch down another breath before answering, "no…yet". Teeth gritted with the effort, the former Legionnaire bit down and put on a last spurt of despairing energy, legs trembling as she temporarily left Espio behind to virtually collapse just a few hundred yards further down the street, smiling even as her paw slapped down on the side of the building she was level with, dragging down the brickwork with almost undue satisfaction. Not quite sure what was going on here, the chameleon approached cautiously, making sure the echidna was standing under her own steam, albeit a little shakily, before clearing her throat. Looking around at the noise, Julie turned with a grin on her lips a mile wide, one hand brushing back through her glistening hairstyle as she panted deep breaths for air,

"Well, that was easier, than it's been before". _This is a regular thing for you then?_; the question mulled around in the chameleon's mind as Julie put her hands on her knees and bent forwards, obviously completely exhausted; _didn't think it was_;

"This, ah", the chameleon made a brave stab at conversation, talking like this not one of her stronger points, "this a regular thing for you?"

"Thank the spirits no", Julie answered as she stood up again, stretching off a little as she did so and wafting a little cool air into her face, "not yet at any rate – got a bet with you-know-who running on this and take it from em I don't lose bets like this ever".

"So I see", almost unconsciously falling into step with the mechanised echidna as she began to walk back the way she'd come, Espio took the plunge to try and get a little more conversation now, the mere fact that she was able to converse with someone like this pushing back the borders of the blackness that was hovering over her mind, "so, what's this all about then?"

"Hmm, what? Oh, the bet", Julie realised what the chameleon was on about after a seconds' thought, "well you know the programme I do, Shadow said it's easier than actually going out and pounding pavement like this; I said it wasn't and you know how it goes from there", the chameleon shrugged and, not really paying attention, Julie carried on, "so we drew something up and shook on it; I run a mile and a half every day for two weeks and he has to treat me to something nice – he didn't say what but take it from me if it's not up to scratch he's never going to hear the end of it. Have you got a sore throat or something though, you sound a bit different".

_Bugger_; she'd forgotten in the light of everything else that had been suffocating her thinking – still, it didn't look too fatal that she'd been caught out, after all these years of miming a different voice her body seemed to have been drilled thoroughly enough to half-attempt the feat on autopilot all the time. Thinking quickly, Espio decided the best thing to do was go along with the story she'd been given; shaking her head dismissively, she pinched the scales around her Adams' apple and spoke again in a slightly deeper voice than before, again cursing the absence of her normal throat sweets to make this less comfortable than usual,

"Nothing much, it'll go soon; anyway, two week you said, how long have you done now?"

"What's today, Tuesday?" At the chameleons' nod Julie shrugged before wincing slightly, "that'd be day three then". Noticing her discomfort and the way she was pressing a hand against her ribs, Espio worked out what was likely plaguing her and offered a suggestion,

"Don't squeeze it like that; stitches don't work like that. Just take deep, slow breaths, that'll help – your body needs oxygen to break down the acid in your muscles that causes the stitch"; Julie raised her eyebrows at this, surprised by the normally-taciturn reptiles' helpful attitude and, to her surprise, after a minute or so of heavy breathing, the pain did seem to ebb away somewhat,

"All right; nice one Esp, thanks. Okay Shady", punching her fists together, the echidna grinned again, "nothing's stopping me now pal – get ready to get your wallet out some week and a bit from now. Hmm", at a sudden high-pitched beeping she looked around to see Espio stop dead, eyes drawn down as though transfixed towards where her phone was located on her belt, "oh, that yours; I've got the same tone".

"Yeah, yeah it was", a million ideas and thoughts were whipped around her mind in a torrential whirlpool as that single tuneless tone echoed in her head, "so, er"; _gotta see this now_; she had to read the message she'd just received, who knew what it could have contained, the hope it could have possibly brought? "better find out who's after me now. Catch you some other time Julie, good luck with your bet". The echidna smiled, the familiar light of a gentle, non-fatal battle in her eyes as she waved farewell,

"No need for luck Esp; just the thought of his face when I show up expecting payment's enough to keep me going. See you around", and with that the former Legionnaire was gone, milling back into the crowd she would never be quite part of, her mechanical augmentations setting her apart for her totally organic peers, but seemed much more at home within after so long away from the Legions' crushing embrace. Though it was painful for her to wait at all, Espio still possessed enough discipline to wait until the other Mobian she knew was completely swallowed up by the press before almost sprinting into the nearest convenient doorway and snatching her phone from her pocket, staring at the screen with almost zealous intent.

_There's a message_; the icon was there and the icon didn't lie – someone had tried to get though to her, it didn't really matter who at this precise moment in time; the fact was that someone wanted to talk to her and that fact was irrefutable. She couldn't quite master her excitement at this development, her thumb trembled a little as she quickly jabbed down on the left-corner button at the top of the display; almost instantaneously the display of her screen was gone, replaced with another one that contained something else, something that left her floundering for a minute, because it wasn't a hello, it wasn't an accusation and it wasn't a denouncement; in fact it was nothing at all that she had even thought to expect.

It was an invitation.

_Meal – 6.30 pm. You attending Y/N?_

It was short and to the point; by that alone it was obvious who'd sent her this text and that made her throat bob a little unpleasantly – after all, he out of all of them had the most reason to feel grievance for her actions. But still, he was making an offer here, an opportunity to get her side of the story across and perhaps convince the rest of her team that what was happening wasn't really that big a deal, it was simply a logical step along the path of self-improvement, the next step of the carrot-and-stick method that would eventually allow her to perfect her disciplines. But still, at the same time it meant she had to be back there again and she knew without even having to picture it how well that would probably go down, least of all with Mighty, the one who she least often saw eye-to-eye with. She wrestled with the conundrum she'd been left with for a minute or so before, having weighed up all the factors she could think of, she pressed the button that allowed her to reply to message and began to type an answer as easy and obvious as the one which had opened this new door in what was left of her life.

XXX

The was only grateful the other two weren't here; Charmy was on another of the errands that had been keeping him occupied all day and Mighty hadn't come back from the shrine yet; good, that meant neither of them could see how tense he was right now. Ever since he'd let the missing one know of his intentions for the night he'd been on absolute tenterhooks – he'd even had to put down his knives as his hands were shaking so much he couldn't trust them not to slip at the critical moment. Pacing around the kitchen with a towel over his shoulder, Vector prowled around and sniffed deeply; _fragging hell Esp, for Christs' sake just answer your bloody mess…_; his phone beeped at that moment and even as the tone rang out shrill his hand had throttled it completely. Bringing it up to the level of his eyes he saw his answer, writ large and in a manner he couldn't counter, no matter how he might have wanted to – everything hinged on the little dark green screen he now held in front of his face, a single short word picked out in black type standing out for his eyes alone.

Reading and re-reading the word over and over, the crocodile blew out a breath of tension and dragged the cloth off his shoulder, wiping his still-shaking hands with it as he replaced his mobile. _Well, that's that done with then_; and it was – now more than ever, that phase was over completely; _so, what's next then – what can I do now?_ Sweeping his eyes around the kitchen again, the crocodile carefully picked up this and that, odd condiments and seasonings as he realised what he needed to get the stove on in time to be ready for half-past six. Something seemed to jump out in his vision and he paused, his gaze lingering for a moment before he shook his head; _no_; he moved on, the after-images of that particular implement still imprinted on his vision for a second before he cleared his mind and focussed on what he needed now; _not that yet – I'll need it, but not right now. That'll come, in fact it'll have to come, later…_

XXX

"Greetings guests; welcome and rest at this safe Haven"; having intoned the greeting as was the guardian custom, Sabre shrugged off the decorum like an ill-fitting surgical coat and heartily embraced his grandson, smiling all the while.

"Good to see you too Sabre", Knuckles clapped the more elderly echidna on the back and stepped back a pace, allowing the other guardian to adjust his monocle and focus on who else had come down the concealed lift into Haven with him, "now, sorry but it's been a while, where's the main hall of this old warren again?"

"Ah that can wait a minute; we guardians are nothing if not patient. Some of us, at any rate", as Knuckles bristled slightly at the backhanded slander Sabre stepped forwards and, as he always did, waited for Rouge to offer her hand; kissing the back of it in a way that always made her feel shockingly proper, the former guardian carried on without missing a beat, "though I see you've managed to slow him down a little my dear – now do you reckon you could do the same to his sixth-father? I keep telling Hawk he's not as young as he used to be but he does insist on not slacking on his training regime – one of these days he's going to seriously cripple himself. I've already patched up two of his toes before now, someone's got to do something before it gets too much more than that". Rouge couldn't conceal her smirk; somehow Sabre and she had clicked from almost the moment they'd met; she instinctively liked his dry wit and sardonic humour and he had, she guessed but couldn't be entirely sure, been pleasantly impressed by her impact on his grandson and well as her own effervescence,

"Be that as it may I'm not stupid enough to risk my pretty neck over it – I can guess that the first one to tell Thunderhawk to take a breather would be the next one into his training room and take it from me when you go in, you don't come out the same way".

"Which is exactly my problem", the surgeon huffed, crossing his arms slightly, "he breaks them, I glue them back together and nothing ever goes back together as easily as it comes apart. Anyway my dear, you never had to come it can get frightfully boring you know?" _Oh is that so?_; it was difficult to keep herself from chuckling before, now it was completely impossible – covering her mouth with one hand and seeing her husband also fighting not to crack up completely, the bat simply rolled her shoulders; _well if you knew what I knew, you might think that we both had a way to make it go with a bit more of a bang than usual_;

"Ah well, worst come to worst I won't have to come next year, not like some of us", she smirked, giving Knuckles a dig in the ribs as she sashayed past him slinkily, "so, lead on Sabre and let's get this show on the road".

"Very much so; the sooner we start the sooner we can all go back to our quarters, or something like that at least. Follow me please, the others are", there was a slight pause before he finished his sentence, the other two Mobians present waiting quietly as he finished the mental scan for the rest of his family, "already waiting. This way".

As Sabre turned to lead the currant guardian and his bride towards the centre of Haven where the rest of the Brotherhood waited, he didn't see them exchange both a glance and, a split-second after that, the pair of evil grins that blossomed over their faces like malevolent mushrooms. And all three of them, on the other side of Angel Island and underground as they were, were never even aware of the figure somewhere in Echidnopolis that, having pulled up outside a certain house in the suburbs and inched forwards towards the door, slowly drew back its uninjured right hand and, after a heart-stopping second of self-questioning and doubt, let it fall to knock on the door.

A/N: So what can Vector and the guys have cooked up this time? Can Espio convince them that what she's doing is right, or will the Chaotix tear themselves apart beyond all hope of reconciliation? Time, and time alone, will tell…


	9. Chapter 9 Thicker than Water

Chapter 9 – Thicker than Water

Chapter 9 – Thicker than Water.

A/N: Unusually, I make no apologies for this chapter being a little long in coming – the simple reason for that is that this fiction, more than any of the others I've written, is taking time to phrase correctly and make convincing for those who read my fictions to enjoy. I hope therefore that those below, and any others who read these words I scribe, still enjoy the fanfiction arc I have created and will continue until its eventual completion:

D. G Arrow - There's no such thing as too much; the only thing there is is never enough!

TNH - My thanks for the compliment; hope you enjoy this latest chapter being an angst fan.

MS - Don't be jealous; read what I've written and see if you can integrate it into your own writing style - it's how I learnt. Hope this chapter is okay for you.

Ri2 - The end or a new beginning - what is the distance between one and the other?

SM - You have an inkling; good, I always do like reviewers who try to second-guess my intentions - let me know if what you were thinking comes up in the chapter. And yes, the Brotherhood are in for a treat and a half...

Relisys (RS from now on) - So you've been reading from A Bloodstone Rose onwards; that's the sort of thing I like to hear, need to keep a reader's interest through a large number of stories to be successful you know. Hope you're still enjoying the arc as a whole.

Once more hugging her hands into her armpits to stave off the worst of the cold, Espio again and again ran her reasons for being here over in her mind; would it not have been better not to answer the message she'd had delivered, to just leave and never return rather than risk the burning sun of yet another false dawn singeing her eyes to blindness again? It was a question even she could not answer – no matter how she reflected and pondered the varied mysteries of her teachings and the long meditation she had undertaken, there was no definite answer; there never was. _Now if this was a film or a story_; almost despite herself the chameleon felt herself smile a little, the thought that she'd ever transcend the tragic-comedy her life seemed destined to be to attain immortality in written word bitterly laughable even to herself; _I'd probably say something corny like I was 'following my heart' – no chance of that_; the dull ache that clanged sorely in her chest was all the answer she needed from that department; _that ended a long time ago. And besides, since when was I ever…oh_. Suddenly aware she had company, the reptile stood up straighter and fought hard to keep her scales all the same colour as the face at the door let the single eye she could see narrow before, with a grunt somewhere between annoyance and disappointment, it let the door open completely, exposing her to the armadillos' full scrutiny.

XXX

_At least I didn't kill her_; in that regard at least she'd kept her word completely, though she could see easily that the contempt and virtual hatred that had flared up from deep inside her at first sight of the chameleon had been strong and hot enough to rattle even Espio; _good_. Right now the armadillo wanted to keep her off-balance; she wasn't a hundred percent sure what Vectors' plan was to deal with this scenario, heck, she wasn't even one percent sure about it; for someone with such a big mouth as the crocodile, he could seal his lips up remarkably tightly when he wanted to, but she was working on a slightly different agenda to him in any case. _No matter what else happens tonight_; the armadillo had sworn this to herself after being denied the chance to go hunting the previous evening – now her former quarry had shown up here of her own free will, she was certain not to be denied; _I will make you apologise to Charmy for what you've done to the present we all brought for him, what we gave him when he came of age. But later for that_; as she saw Espio begin to regain some of her composure, Mighty cooled for her wrathful heart and instead stepped slightly backwards, shadowed by the door and beckoning the chameleon inside forebodingly; _into my web said the spider to the fly_;

"You've been on the street?" It wasn't a question, it was a statement of fact and, as the chameleon nodded, Mighty gave a deep, unimpressed sniff, "Then get upstairs and have a shower. I've got to share a table with you later, I'm not going to have you stinking as badly as your attitude does, and get that changed", her eyes alighted on something she hadn't noticed up to now and the sight of the bedraggled, ripped up glove on the chameleon's left glove shone out like a marker-light to an incoming homing missile, "where'd you pick it up, out with the trash?"

"Yes"; _it speaks_; the answer wasn't all that important to her as inside the armadillo was already grinning like a fool – to her mind right now making her most reviled team mate talk, do something she usually never deigned to do unless she had something important that needed to be said, was a victory in itself, "I found it out there…"

"And you can send it back there as well", Mighty told her in no uncertain terms, eyeing up the ruined clothing with professional distaste, "I'm not having anything I wear share a laundry basket with that thing. And as for you", she jerked a thumb over her shoulder as Espio flinched, though as far as the armadillo was concerned she'd long ago foregone the right to any sympathy from any of the Chaotix, "get showered, get dressed and then get downstairs; Vector's made something for all of us. But just you remember this Espio", she leaned forwards from the door's shadow, an ugly look of spite and malice on her face as she hissed her last words poisonously, "if it were up to me you'd be eating that garbage you slept in last night – for some reason the others seem to think you're worth all this work and take it from me, you will appreciate it even if I have to ram it down your throat myself. Understand?"

Standing where she was, unable to defend herself against this onslaught because of the simple reason she knew it was true and, more than that, had no reason to expect otherwise at all, Espio simply nodded and, trying to keep her head up out of nothing more than self-pride despite the armadillo's imperious glance and scathing voice cutting her down to what felt like an inch in height, she nevertheless passed through the portal being held open for her, flinching again as it banged shut and she was left alone in the hallway with Mightys' eyes burning into her back with every step she took towards the room she had to go next.

XXX

She scurried past the kitchen hurriedly not, as she guessed Mighty was secretly hoping, because she wanted to get out her sight quickly; no, the reason she put on a burst of speed to bolt up the stairs so fast was because she knew that no matter how hard it had been facing the armadillo, a much more taxing, draining battle had yet to be fought and she was nowhere near ready for it yet. She needed to rest and, she smiled blackly, chagrined as she realised that Mighty was actually right for a change in something, she needed to look something like presentable before she came face to face with the other two again. Luckily despite her rough night and lack of proper food, she was able to quickly and more importantly quietly sneak up the stairs towards her bedroom; a sudden panic seized her but she fought it off as the door hove into view down the end of the landing – it was inconceivable that the others would have thrown out her belongings already, they couldn't evict her that quickly; _they just couldn't_; but if that was so why did her hand shiver as she reached out to the ajar wooden barrier; _they wouldn't get rid of my just like that – I've been too much a part of this team for them to just cut me loose without so much as a goodbye…_

…_like I would have done to them._

A sob caught in her throat as that line of thinking came out of nowhere and the train of thought riding it smashed into her headlong; eyes burning from the inside, the chameleon felt her stomach churn like a washing machine set to full spin as she realised just how much that was true, how much she now knew about herself that had once been a mystery. _And I would have_; once she would have considered such decisive action a strength, never looking back at those she left behind save to learn from their failings and work out how to avoid such pitfalls herself – why now did it appear as a failing rather than a blessing to never give a toss; _I'd not have cared if they left into the darkness – I wouldn't have gone after them, I wouldn't have offered a meal invitation out to them and I certainly, never in a million years would have dragged my way up to cook anything for them. But they would_; and more than that, they actually had done all this, and all for her, someone who'd never even have conceived the notion to reciprocate the favour in any way, shape or form. Paralysed where she was for a moment, it was only the fact that gravity finally overcame the inertia of her stationary raised arm and it dropped, grazing the door on the way down, that let her see what was waiting for her in this room. Seeing the light from the hallway fall onto the carpet and what lay atop the slightly faded floor rug, Espio felt herself slump in relief as she saw her room was exactly the same as it had been before she'd been forced to evacuate the premises.

The curtains were still drawn and she wasn't going to do anything about that; darkness represented concealment, no-one could see her and she was grateful for that; slipping quickly though the gap in the door and gasping at the slight chill as the cold air in the room swirled around her, Espio threw off such a quick shock and almost embraced the familiarity of the place she'd come back to. It was hers, hers when she owned virtually nothing more than what she was wearing and the body that she'd been born with; pulling open the top draw of the small chest of drawers off to the side of the bed, the scent of freshly-laundered clothes reached up to her and she inhaled deeply, almost giddy with this emotional feast compared to the frugal desert of bleakness and despair she'd been forced to rest with the previous night. Swiftly plucking up a fresh pair of gloves and, on exploring the second draw down, a pair of socks to go with them, she was set to go again; silently swearing that she'd be back to this sanctuary again, the chameleon crossed to the door again and, after checking both ways were clear, nipped along the corridor a little and, a second later, made it to the bathroom without further incident.

XXX

He waited until the sound of echoing footfalls above his heads ended before daring to breathe a sigh of relief,

"Well", the bee said with a quirk, almost frightened smile on his face as he turned to look up at his taller workmate, "at least she turned up hey?" Strangely enough Vector didn't smile; not that he had done a lot of smiling since last night at all the bee reminded himself – it appeared that all his crocodile friend had done between now and then was work and occasionally stare forwards with the same, sombre tint to his face. Because of that recent past, Charmy wasn't all that surprised when he didn't receive an earlier answer to his comment; instead Vector nodded and carried on with the task at hand, reaching forwards with his hands working idly as he reached out to add the latest and last of the ingredients to the tossed salad he'd been making. Though not strictly fond of vegetables himself, Charmy recognised that by going to this much effort the crocodile was really making a statement with the spread he'd put on – by making the salad last, the master chef had ensured that the ingredients would retain the maximum amount of firm crunchiness to give it a bit of bite. Left with the silence that seemed to fold over his head like a breaking, drowning wave, the bee thrust aside all forms of conversation save the one he knew would guarantee him a reaction from his now silent workmate,

"Vec, can't you tell me what's going on now? I didn't mean all of it", he defended himself hastily, hands up as though trying to ward off the crocodiles' baleful stare, "it's just that, well, if I knew what's running through your head, I just thought I might be able to help a bit better, maybe suggest anything to make it better…"

"Nice try Charm"; _at least it got him talking_; that in itself was a victory, a victory of bitter sourness perhaps, but a victory nonetheless as the crocodile spoke on in the same mournful dirge, "bu' take it frum me mate, if wha'I got stewin' cums off right, then I'll need ya, you an' Might too. Trust me on this pal, right now you two're all tha's 'olding this 'ole mess tagetha; don't ferget, ya gave yer word".

"And I'll stick to it", the bee assured him, not in a tone of false bravado but one of grim acceptance of the binding power of his oath, "it's just that I hate being kept in the dark about this whole business – I'm old enough to take life on the chin now, I came of age last year no matter how much you lot might have wanted me to stay a kid and don't try to deny it", he hadn't quite meant to say this much but, with tension running high and apprehension thick on the air, one of the crux of his own issues had risen to the surface. As Vector turned fully around to look at him piercingly, the same serious expression on his face, Charmy found he couldn't stop himself from bringing this sore point to a head here and now,

"I know you, and Mighty as well and she's the worst out of you pair truth be told, are trying to keep this at arms-length from me Vector; don't look at me like that, I appreciate the fact you're thinking of me and all but I need to help here, don't you see that?" He would have gone on, in fact had taken down a breath to do so, before something else overrode his sense of injustice and buried it beyond all hope of exhumation.

Vector was snickering.

It wasn't a sound the bee had ever heard his team mate make before and truth be told it wasn't one he ever wanted to hear him make again; normally when Vector was afflicted with mirth it was a booming noise that shook cobwebs off the ceiling, so this quiet, piercing noise was unnerving, even slightly sinister – the bee felt the chill hand of fear caress up and down his sensitive back bristles as finally, it seemed, the crocodile managed to retain control of his sudden mirthless mirth and speak up again, reaching to the side and plucking up the salad bowl with one massive hand, his answer a colourless tone without inflection or warmth that only made the insect before his tremble even harder,

"You wanna help Charmy? Good, I'm glad o'that; well lissen, like ya said I can' tell ya th'plan bu' I'can promise ya this", turning towards the beautifully laid-out table, Vector's answer floated back over his shoulder and drove a spike of fear deep down into his team mate's emotional core,

"B'fore this is ova, yer'll get y'chace t'elp, an' I'd be willin' t'bet ya a week's wages when th'time comes, yer'll be wishin' ya had a chance t'turn it down". Not even looking over his shoulder for an answer, the crocodile stepped over to the table and briefly his eyes fell onto every tool he'd need over the next few crucial hours – a sharp pang struck him in the chest and he felt his eyes squeeze shut with regret about the path he was being forced to go down; _and believe me buzz-boy, if there was a way to make sure you never had that chance, I'd snap the arm off the guy who was offering it. No-one should have to go through this, least of all nice, decent people like you, me and Mighty – you were right dad_; memories of the older crocodile who he resembled so much, save for the eyes he'd inherited from his mother, made Vector snort briefly with another false laugh; _life is a total bitch, and when it's not a total bitch it's just stringing you along and waiting to pounce._

XXX

Turning off the power, Espio ran her bare hands over her face and slowly massaged the bags under her eyes with a grunt of irritation; true she was feeling absolutely drained still, the euphoria of returning home wearing off slightly by now, but more than that she was weary at a deeper level that simple physical tiredness. Something was wrong, something deep inside her wasn't quite in sync and she wasn't sure how she could approach it to fix it – an ancient, residual ache was throbbing dully from somewhere she couldn't quite place and it was setting her on edge, making her restless the same way she had been just before Christmas though, she was certain, not for the same reasons as then. Not quite sure how to deal with this unfamiliar, troubling sensation, she stepped out of the tub and onto the heated towel she'd strategically placed on the floor for this moment; rubbing the rough material against her scales, she dried off quickly before turning towards the clothes she'd brought in with them; the second she did so, however, that ache reared up into a dangerously sharp pang of pain.

Sitting on top of the washing basket like a shrivelled, mummified corpse-hand, the little glove that had meant so much last night perched like a desiccated spider, hunched over her fresher, spotless garments as though waiting to pounce on them. Now she looked at it again the chameleon was forced to concede that it was almost a tragedy in its own right that she'd been forced to wear something so horrible and that yes, Mighty was right it probably did deserve to go back into the bin she'd fished it out of in order to save her own lacerated skin, but right now she couldn't do it. She literally couldn't reach out, pick that maimed piece of fabric up and toss it into the small, neat bin kept by the side of the sink like she should have done – it was as though, having gone through one of the most traumatic nights of their collective lives together, neither could truly be without the other now; for some reason Espio knew she needed that glove to remain, to stick with her, not necessarily to wear but to have nevertheless. Swallowing an unpleasant lump in her throat Espio knew she had to act, her hands were tied in this regard; if she didn't make a move soon the others would get suspicious of her longer-than-planned absence; gingerly she did reach forwards, almost visible shuddering as the tips of her bare fingers touched the messily stained fabric, noticing with chagrin that there were still skinny scabs traversing the scales of her left hand as they hadn't had enough time to heal properly since being beheaded the previous evening. Slowly, almost as though she was lifting up a nettle that could sting her if she mishandled it in even the slightest manner, the chameleon hoisted it up and carefully deposited it in the sink, shuddering as she did so and quickly running hot water on top of it, only just remembering to pull up the plunger atop the taps themselves to ensure none of the water could escape before its purpose was complete.

Quickly the sink filled up and, after testing the water tentatively, Espio slowly swirled the water and the glove inside it around, adding a few soap suds from the thin sliver of soap left on the side to help the washing process. It probably didn't help matters in the long run overall; the white cotton, having been stained so badly by food and other, possibly less savoury fluids, was never going to regain its former lustre, but in her mind the chameleon felt she'd done the right thing. Letting the water flow away, she waited until every last drop had drained away before reaching in and picking the glove up again, more firmly this time, gripping it with both hands and wringing out all the water she could throttle from it. It was still damp of course, but she had a plan in mind to deal with that; quickly dressing in her clean clothes, Espio once more opened the bathroom door and checked the coast was clear; when it passed that cursory inspection, she quickly nipped into her room again and carefully laid the wet garment over her radiator, the metal still warm to the touch as she neatly arranged the fingers to make sure they were all exposed to the drying warmth.

_So, that's that done_; she mentally breathed a sigh of relief as she fancied she could see steam start to rise from the palm of the glove itself. It meant nothing in itself, in fact to an outsider she was certain it'd have looked downright weird, but she felt she'd done something right by taking this course of action.

XXX

Of course by the decree of fate itself it just had to be written that the great moment, the very second of his triumph of sorts would be the one he'd been forced to look away to check the oven was properly switched off; because of that split-second's essential inattention, he was forced to rely on an indiscreet cough to tell him that the Chaotix was a quartet once more.

Standing up slowly from where he'd been hidden behind the bulk of the cooker, Vector saw his oldest friend stood framed in the doorway and registered her presence with a clinical, cool detachment; _so, at least you had the decency to actually show up – for a minute I was wondering if you'd chicken out of even this._ But she hadn't and that was the main thing; now she was here, it was going to be up to him, and by keeping his lips as tight as he had he'd made certain it was going to be him alone, who opened her eyes to the error of her previous ways no matter how painful that was going to be for either of them. For her part Espio was simply looking around the silently hushed kitchen, an unplacable expression on her face as she took in Mighty's volcanic smouldering, Charmy's shy and quickly-averted smile of greeting and then him, his own intent gaze, without a word; actually that wasn't true and something kipped up flutteringly in his chest as he realised it. As the chameleons' eyes had found him, or at least the top half of him, stood as he was behind the kitchen counter, something had subtly shifted in her gaze; it seemed to have deepened, just for a second but before he could verify the change it was gone – with a squeak of protest her normal chair had been dragged out and Espio had seated herself, Mighty obviously reining in her previously-voiced desire to kick in her cantankerous contemporary's shins in for the moment at least.

"Evenin' Esp", the crocodile incanted tonelessly, hefting up the large tureen of gently steaming soup he'd had bubbling quietly in the oven for the past fifteen minutes to keep it warm, "get here okay?" She nodded, not quite able to meet his or, he noticed with dispassionate interest, Charmys' eyes as the bee tried to meet them from the other corner of the table,

"Yes, thank you"; _strange_; it wasn't the voice he remembered her using previously – once more he found himself corrosively questioning just what he knew about the deviant chameleon in front of him was actually real and how much was the elaborate hoax of a life he'd swallowed whole; _is that actually how she normally speaks, or is it just a different inflection of the lie I know already?_; "you didn't have to go to the trouble you know?" Vector made to answer but with a rumble like a dangerous landslide rolling downhill to crush any feeble opposition that stood before it, someone else answered for him; Mighty with her hands planted in the tablecloth, glaring across at her opposite number as the words were ground out of her dangerously,

"If it were up to me we, and least of all Vector, wouldn't have; unlike you I've never felt in necessary to cloak all the truth up in lies, so I'll lay my cards on the table here and now Espio", the armadillo took another breath, seemingly ignorant of the crocodile's despairing look or the small hand pawing at her arm, "I don't want you here and if it were up to me you'd never darken our door again. However", almost resignedly she settled back down, turning in her seat to pat the back of Charmy's hand as the bee withdrew it from atop her own, a more wistful expression softening her face as she finished in a voice more tired than victorious, "out of respect for the other two, that's all I'll say on the matter – you're here as one of the Chaotix, I can't take it away from you".

"You were supposed to say 'yet' at the end there", the chameleon added at the end though, like Mighty, the line lacked the normal spiteful snap she impregnated all her sarcastic comments with, the armadillo she was baiting seemingly also lacklustre in rising to the lure. Luckily before the clouds of apathy could spread too far, the atmosphere was disturbed by a sudden thunk and a wonderful aroma; rising along with the steam from the lip of the great silver dish, the smell of this first food course submerged the mounting tension under a wave of shared appetite, its creator stepping back and gesturing for the first bowl to be passed forwards,

"An' tha's all that'll b'said on the matter, pair o'ya. Got it?" As both nodded and he scooped up the bowl Charmy offered forwards, the crocodile presided over this dire ceremonial feasting with a grim solemn air, his heart ever more graven as the material he'd be needing sooner than ever now met his eye as he poured the first cascade of stew into the bee's smaller bowl.

XXX

_Ah, finally_; though 'tolerant' was not usually the first word that sprang to anyone's mind when describing her, Rouge did have quite a length on her tether most of the time – however, now with her tail going numb and the unnatural stillness even to her biologically-enhanced hearing straining at her nerves, she was about to breach the outer limits of her patience when finally, after what seemed like hours, there was a rustle of cloth off to her left and she felt as much as heard the tension in the air drain away,

"It is done", with a slow motion brought about as much by reverence as by his advanced age, the eldest of the Brotherhood of Guardians, her seventh-father-in-law, reached across the table and tentatively tapped the wick of the two candles that had just burnt down from two inches to little more than stumps, finally extinguishing them and casting the Mobians assembled around the table into utter darkness. As a species fully used to working in abyssal darkness, this didn't particularly bother Rouge; it was only the sudden clap that shattered the silence and the resultant light the noise summoned that half-blinded her that managed that. Blinking furiously, the bat managed to discern something like a hazy picture before someone else voiced her displeasure for her,

"Little warning next time, whoever that was?" As Sojourner, along with pretty much everyone else sat at the table, made to recover their eyesight, Rouge quickly slipped her hands from where they'd been engulfed for the better part of half an hour by her husband on one side and Thunderhawk the other; though not adverse to holding hands in private circumstances such as this, the fact that the echidna's hands were so large and warm had meant that it now felt like there was a small ocean of perspiration swimming around inside her gloves. Surreptitiously lowering her hands under the table, Rouge disrobed her fingers and hastily rubbed them dry on her leggings, grateful beyond words as unwittingly Knuckles provided some cover for her with his questioning,

"So, might just be me missing the point here, but what's actually that all about – it's not just some sort of celebration of Edmunds' life is it?"

"No seventh-son", with his robes rustling around him, Spectre turned to the newest recruit into the guardian bloodline and Rouge felt herself writhe with embarrassment as his crimson eyes, so reminiscent of Shadows' in the right light, lingered on her face for a moment; _he knows already what just happened – or if he didn't my face just gave it away_; "it is a trial of endurance, a smaller-scale representation, if you like, of the sworn duties of us, the descendents of Edmund himself. The flames of the Legion", the ancient echidnas' arm swept over the table to point out one of the candles he had just extinguished before rolling over to indicate the other, "and ourselves still burn brightly; only when one gutters and finally dies will the other know peace at last".

"Although truth be told, and I do speak the truth six-father", all heads turned to Locke as the father of the current guardian spoke, his tone taciturn and solemn as always, his eyes seemingly as lifeless and dull as those of a doll, not showing anything in their Stygian depths as he carried on his observations despite Spectre's look of impatience, "the Legions' flame seems to have guttered over recent months; first the loss of Dimitri himself, his Bloodstone likewise ground to powder and good riddance, the emergence of Enerjak as more a peace broker than anything else and even Kragoks' lust for war apparently tempered by the death of his sister – perhaps the time will come soon enough when this", he nodded at the table at the same time as drop the hands of the ancestors sat to either side of him, "will be consigned to the annals of history".

Silence settled again over the table, though how much of this was due to people digesting the rationale behind Locke's observations and how much was due to others recoiling from the blasé manner in which he spoke of death, even the deaths of enemies, was a mystery – from his tone of voice, the mechanically-minded member of the Brotherhood could have simply been reporting on the state of his latest invention or commenting on the weather. Knuckles knew which category he fell into; some days he could hardly look at his father without shuddering; _once you said don't try to understand what you'll never experience, or something like that_; the separation of his parents had been a bitter and painful experience for both of them but only now, now since his mother had re-married and was prepared to bring another echidna's child into the world, had the currant guardian finally seen the scale of the devastation wreaked in his father's psyche; _now I think I know what you meant._

From what he could tell, which admittedly wasn't all that much as he rarely came to Haven unless he had to, Knuckles had resigned himself to the fact that his father was barely a functioning Mobian any more – since the wedding Locke had simply become more and more like his namesake; introverted, watchful and never relaxing, his entire existence revolving around working within his laboratory on some pet project or other. Very little provoked a reaction in the elder echidna now; he accepted everything with either a sigh if he thought it something beyond his control or a squaring of the shoulders if he intended to something about it. His eyes reflected rather than saw the world and he let the future drift over him, modifying what he could for the benefit of the Brotherhood as a whole but ultimately not doing anything to change his lot in life; _you had your chance, you said – you threw it away, you said_; a deep melancholy settled in Knuckles' gut as he instinctively recognised what had happened to his father, the trap he had so nearly been snared in; _but no-one said you couldn't go and deal yourself a new hand in life like mum did. You just fell off the rails completely and that was that, and the scariest thing of all, the one thing that terrifies me the most about you Locke_; the guardian broke his sidelong gaze from his father to look to the side of him, fear melting in his chest as he did so to be replaced by a warmth that had never come from within, a source of power that had to come from another, outside force of nature; _is how close I came to ending up in exactly the same boat – only someone else throwing me a life-raft stopped me drowning in my own folly_.

A chair scraped backwards and Knuckles started, his thoughts interrupted violently as one of the gathering stood up; his first thought was that Thunderhawk had finally had enough but no, his lavender-furred sixth-father was still sat in his seat, looking for all the world like he'd slipped into a light doze. Instead, much to the current guardian's surprise, it was actually Sabre, his genially tempered and surgically educated grandfather, who'd taken the lead and cast a monocled eye over the proceedings, sniffing in disdain at the same time as glance over at his son with paternal pride,

"Well be that as it may I agree with you Locke; the sooner this business is over and ancient history the better as far as I'm concerned…"

"Oh stop moaning quack-boy", Thunderhawk rumbled from his corner, one eye peeking open a crack as he peered at his fourth-son long-sufferingly, "at least out of all of us you can treat tail-sores; the rest of us just have to sit here, grin and bear it". Though Spectre managed to look disproving of his son slighting tradition in this fashion most of the rest of the table smiled at the sixth-father's inflection, those same smiles only widening as Sabre appeared to rise to the bait his most hatingly-loved relative had dangled in front of him,

"…I was going to say because the sooner this struggle is over and the Legion learns how misguided it's been the sooner peace will return to our little island in the sky, but I suppose what you say is true in a way", the corner of a smile managed to break the surgeon's medically-forged mask of impassiveness as he rounded on his grandfather and spoke in a perfect deadpan, "the less I have to see of the fat worm stuck on your backside the happier I'll be, sores or otherwise". _The words 'ice' and 'thin' are coming to my mind Sabre_; a snort from somewhere, focussing solely as he was on his cocky fourth-son, made him ramp his glare up from merely impassive to sub-lethal levels; _swiftly followed by the words 'snap' and 'hypothermia'_;

"Now you just listen to me Sabre…"

"And you to me Hawk, in fact all of you pay attention", the one echidna on Angel Island who could have made the Brotherhoods' old warhorse back down spoke up and both his descendents retook their seats hastily, neither daring to do much more than breathe as Spectre stood to his full, slightly age-worn but still imposing height, "the ceremony is over for another year; we have seen the light of battle burn brightly, dull over time and finally extinguish – as my fifth-son says, the sooner this future is brought about the better it will be for all, but ultimately the decision for peace rests with the Dark Legion itself. You are all now free to do as you will", for a minute his eyes lingered on the two newcomers to the table and he smiled, "and my advice to you Knuckles would be to prepare yourself for this next year". The guardian chuckled, standing up and stretching off as he did so,

"No fear of that; I hear Station Square's particularly nice this time of year – better start booking a travel agent". Spectre's eyes blazed for a second, though he retained his composure as he answered, already knowing the best way to rile up his wayward seventh-son,

"Not a chance boy; if I have to stay here though this you can bet your final crest the rest of you ingrates are, though of course such restrictions don't apply to you my dear", Rouge pricked her ears at this, definitely paying more attention as the midnight echidna inclined his head in her direction, "only guardians by blood must see this ceremony through to the finish; ties of marriage don't apply on this one".

"Sounds good to me", the bat grinned and stretched back in her seat until someone gave her a sharp poke in the ribs; whiplashing back to her sitting position the bat matched her husbands' glare for a minute before their silent tirades were halted by anothers' voice, Sabre once more making himself heard as he stood to leave the gathering,

"Well, I shall leave you to count your blessings Rouge; I've some work to do for a conference next week so good evening to you all".

XXX

_Oh yes, thank you_; in the face of such an opportunity it was all the bat could do not to clasp her hands together and offer up a prayer of thankfulness – all night long she'd waited for an opportunity like this and here it was, presented to her rolled up, stuffed and served on a silver platter. Knuckles might have attempted to say something but it was far too late for that – without a beat missed she'd pounced on her unsuspecting prey.

"Oh, hold up a minute then Sabre", the monocled echidna started in mild surprise as his grand-daughter-in-law rose to match him, making to leave the same way he was, "got a couple of, ah, issues to talk to you about…"

"Fan-TASTIC!"

The sudden shriek made everyone jump up as it seemed another of the Brotherhood had descended from his own little world to join the rest of his family; leaping up from his seat and turning into a rainbow-trailed comet under the effect of the unique gift bestowed upon him by the Master Emerald itself, Athair span around the room in a blur of motion that made everyone else cover their eyes and whipped Spectre's robes around in a playful wind, shouting at the top of his voice as he did so,

"At last, it's finally true, the moment's here", as suddenly as he'd started the manic echidna came to a sudden dead halt in the air, tearing up as he finally dropped to the floor and placed his hand gently on Rouge's shoulder, the bat too stunned to react as his strangled, hoarse voice croaked through to her,

"I, I'm going to be a fourth-father, aren't I pretty Rouge? That's what you want to speak to my son about isn't it?"

XXX

_Someone stop me_; already brimming with bad memories regarding his insane great-grandfather, all of which had of course been filmed for posterity and screened to a private audience of some of his closest friends, Knuckles was understandably a little peeved with Athair already – this bombshell announcement right in front of the rest of his shell-shocked family was just about the icing on the cake; _or in fact don't – right now I really…_;

"Ah, actually"; _no!_; feeling the moment slip away Knuckles could only stare up accusingly at his wife as Rouge slowly disentangled the elder echidnas' paw from her shoulder and tried to speak through the fury of her blush, "it's er, it's not quite that Athair; I mean", the brown echidna looked to be on the verge of sobbing as she explained and she had to think on the spot to preserve the echidna's child-like feelings, "it's not the end of the world is it – you will be a fourth-father someday, and you're what, sixty years old now, seventy? What's another couple of years on top of that little lot; anyway, look on the bright side", as always when face to face with one of her favourite guardians Rouge couldn't stop herself smiling as she ran a hand down one of Athair's bangle-covered dreadlocks, almost making the echidna purr, "there's a good chance any kid of mine'll be born with wings and ready to fly – if that does happen guess who I'm making chief flying officer when he or she grows up a little bit?"

"Umm", crossing his legs underneath him without sitting down, Athair let one hand cover his chin as he seemed to ponder the bats' question very deeply, "I really don't know third-daughter. Let me think about it a little; I'm sure I know someone who could teach a little one to fly properly but for the life of me I can't think of the name. It'll come to me though", floating away towards one of the exits of the main meeting hall of Haven, the third-father spoke once more to them all before turning away and bobbing off down the hallway, muttering to himself, "it'll come…now who could help pretty Rouge, must be someone special for my fourth-child…hmm…" His silhouette disappearing down the darkened corridor, the third-father left the gathering behind with chaos and disorder, his pet attendants it seemed, trailing dutifully in his footless wake.

Quite understandably there was silence for a few minutes as the crazy guardian departed, though maintaining such a noiseless environment was easier from some than others; having caught a glimpse of his ashamed sixth-son's beet-red face out the corner of his eye Thunderhawk had been forced to stuff his knuckles into his mouth as sniggers wracked his body. The tortuous silence stretched on and on, everyone at the table knowing the first to speak would be unceremoniously ripped apart by everyone else present, in some cases literally as well as figuratively, but luckily two out of the seven remaining had an escape clause. Without a word spoken Sabre led the way at a brisk pace, Rouge just behind him following in his hurried footsteps and almost feeling the fury and suppressed mortification of her partners' gaze shrivelling her wings up as she ran to the relative safety of the surgeons' practice; _sorry Knuckles, right now it's every Mobian for themselves_.

Rushing into the labyrinth depths of the guardian's ancestral home, the bat felt herself torn between shame, for Athairs' bold statement had been typically true to his usual knack of jumping feet-first to all the wrong conclusions, and a strange, sudden longing that she had to fight hard to force to the back of her mind – reminding herself that right now she had a golden chance to get a little playful payback on one of the echidnas who was forever lambasting the crude and uncivilised ways of the younger generations, his own descendents included, Rouge raced on into the gloom, Sabre's back always her target as she honed the pointed edges of her deadly lines and tried again to put Athairs' echoing words aside; _at least_; striking something like a truce in her mind, the bat sighed slightly and dropped her eyes for a second before returning to the chase; _for now I put them aside._

He knew what was coming and as such, there was only one thing to be done,

"The first one of you", raising his shaking fist the echidna glanced back at the table over his shoulder having swivelled in his seat to curse his wife as a coward, his voice a harsh, wobbling grate, "to say a word…after that, I'll…" Spectre stood up, his robes falling around him like leaves of midnight as he spoke again to diffuse a potentially nasty situation,

"I know seventh-son; there's not one of us at this table now who Athair hasn't tripped up like that. Still, be at peace and know you have time on your side"; _what are you – no Athair_; he knew what was going to happen, somehow his fourth-son's madness had infected him and he couldn't stop himself; _damn you, you maniac_; "though truth be told it might help if you got a move on in that department", the youngest guardian whipped around to meet the eyes of the eldest; one pair blazed as the other narrowed with mirth, the lips under the smiling crimson forming the last, fatal words, "some of us would like to see the next guardian before they enter their second childhood; I don't think Haven can cope with more than one baby at a time".

The words alone didn't break Knuckles tenuous grip on his self-control – it was Thunderhawk's unstoppable, ripping snort of utter hilarity that did that; with a roar that shook Haven from one end to the other, the current guardian of the Master Emerald hurled himself at his sixth-father and began dishing out the hurt while the rest of his family piled in to try to break up the brawl at the same time as head off their own mirth.

XXX

"Welcome in Rouge", grateful to be back in a place he understood so well Sabre let the normal pretences and rigidity of guardian life fall from his shoulders like a musty cloak, ushering the bat into his surgery with a friendly hand on her back, "sorry about Athair speaking out of turn like that but, well", he gave a gruff chuckle, rolling his eyes as his infuriating but still beloved father's eccentric streak, "if Spectre can't break him out the habit there really is no hope for any of us managing it".

"Don't worry; come on, compared to what I get from Sonic that's absolutely next to nothing"; _true in a way I guess_; and in a way it was, though nothing the blue hedgehog had ever said had cut so close to the knuckle of such a sensitive issue before; _through come on girl, get a grip – now is not the time for thinking about ways to get back at the blue pest, not when there's a more tempting target in the offering_; "still, even after that, I'd rather be here than where Knuckles is right now". Sabre chuckled, sitting down at his desk and shuffling some paperwork with his free hand at the same time as reply to his surrogate granddaughter,

"In more ways than one I can imagine", his eyebrow rose, somehow still keeping the monocle that preserved his parity of vision in place as it did so, "I take it we won't be seeing you this time next year?" Rouge grimaced as the mere memory of what she'd just had to sit through made her hands perspire and tail throb again,

"Ah, unfortunately, probably not".

"And I don't blame you an inkling", Sabre set her at ease with his calm, patient doctor's voice; _if any of us could weasel our way out of it my boot-heels would be the first ones out the door_; "just this once I agree with Hawk – the sooner this date is in the bin the better". Rouge looked perplexed for a minute,

"Thought Locke said that?"

"Nah, that's been old T-H's position on the matter for the past forty years or so", the echidna sighed before slapping his thigh and getting down to business, his voice brisk and probing, "anyway, enough of that; what did you want to talk to me about? Not feeling down I hope?"

_If only you knew_; the bat had to fight hard to keep a smile off her face as she remembered a couple of the choicest moments of the video the guardians as a whole had inadvertently treated them all to over Christmas – if laughter was reputed to be the best medicine then that day surely had to count as an overdose of almost lethal proportions. Seeing Sabre was expecting an answer however, the former spy quickly pulled herself together and swiftly shook her head, masking her intentions until the opportune moment reared its head,

"Nah, nothing much really Sabre – like you said in a way, I was just looking for a ride out of there really. Anyway"; _since you mentioned it_; at last her mind had found a way to press the breach at last; _I might as well use it_; feigning interest, she cocked her head towards the sheaves of paper arranged neatly on the corner of the doctor's desk, "this conference, what's it about?"

"Nothing particularly interesting I assure you; to be honest I'm rather dreading it", Sabre admitted with a heavy sigh, "some general tat about the new manner of hospital staff or techniques imported from the world below, the Council do so enjoy tweaking our contracts and hours every so often, you know how it goes?"

"How well I do; working with government is always good fun", the bat agreed, trying to engineer the opportunity she needed, "but don't you have a speciality in surgery, that's something I always wanted to ask you. On the world below you see, doctors sometimes train extra, if you like, in one specific field to become a specialist in things like cardiology, physiology, all that sort of jazz. Do you have things like that up here?" Looking generally perplexed, Sabre scratched the crown of his head before eventually shaking his head and shrugging,

"Not to my knowledge granddaughter, though in truth", a small note of pride entered his voice, completely oblivious to the monumental fall it was being set up for as its owner continued, "with how long I've been working in my profession under the various aliases, I've probably dealt with every sort of crisis from open-heart surgery to the common cold. What makes you ask, anyway?"

"Oh nothing much, just nosey in a way. Anyway I best not disturb you; just go and pick up what the rest of the gang have left of Knuckles and get outta here. It's just that", she timed it to an absolute peach; sabre was just settling back down and she was halfway to the door as her final, throwaway line snared him horribly, "going by some of the magazines you read, I imagined you'd be a pretty well qualified gynaecologist by now".

_And score one to the batgirl_; though she'd never have called herself that within earshot of anyone else, or admitted to having developed a certain fondness for a nickname she'd originally detested, it was okay to think such things once in a little while surely. The deafening silence behind her was eerie in a way that made her pulse tingle happily – in a way she was sorry she'd picked on Sabre as he was by far and away one of the easiest of the Brotherhood to get on with, but in times such as these beggars couldn't be choosers. Grin almost threatening to swallow her face whole, the bat was on the verge of whistling a tune as she reached for the door handle, only for a voice, a nervous tentative voice that only stoked her inner mirth to fever pitch, to cease her advance,

"And", there was a short pause; Rouge imagined it must have been as hard for Sabre to catch his breath as it was for her to hold her shuddering shoulders still, "and what magazines would those be, granddaughter?"

"Oh I can't remember the titles", the bat breezed airily, flippant now as she could afford to be so, "something like Spur-play, I'm not a hundred percent. Still, it doesn't matter now…"

"Actually it does", Sabre cut in – had Rouge not been so wrapped up in savouring her victory she might have recognised the danger signs but as it was she was completely oblivious as the older Mobian went on, "because as I'm sure you don't know, grandfather Spectre has been looking extraordinarily pleased with himself as of late, in fact I'd go as far to say he's been downright smug at times. Would you happen to know anything about that, my dear?"

"Well", the bat drawled, calling on a skill that came naturally to her to play hard to get, "I might do, but then again, I probably couldn't pin-point it".

"And, please correct me if I'm wrong, but I gather that asking you outright to tell me what you know would be a waste of time?" The bat gave a theatrical sigh, Sabre trailing at her heels all the way as she reached to let herself out,

"I'm sorry grandfather, but I'm afraid you'd be absolutely right on that count". With that and a triumphant smirk on her lips, she turned the handle to let herself out.

It didn't budge.

Her first thought was puzzlement rather than panic; she was trying the stubborn thing again when Sabre spoke once more and this time the noise froze her in her tracks, for he was speaking in a tone she recognised all too well,

"Well I'm afraid in that case we have a problem; you know it's very odd granddaughter", as the bat slowly began to turn around she wasn't fooled for an instant by his conversational words; monocle aside, Sabre in some ways resembled her husband more so than Locke did and now, sitting as he was in his seat as he was with his spurred paws rubbing together, the two of them stood side by side could have been older and younger brother, "but everyone, even my own family, seems to forget that while I may have chosen a healers' path in life, I am still first and foremost a guardian, and to that end I have the tools necessary to make both my life", he smiled evilly and Rouge pressed herself against the door at her back, cold sweat trickling down her backbone as he leered forwards and continued, "and the lives of my family a little easier. Are you sure I can't persuade you to talk to your dear old grandpa?"

"Ah, Sabre", fumbling at the handle behind her back even if she knew it would do no good – Sabre's mental strength at holding the portal shut far outweighed her physical power in trying to open it, Rouge managed to coax a shaky smile onto her lips and try to answer in a pleasing, if evasive, tone, "I would, I mean I would like to, it's just that, well, you know how it is, I sort of promised that…whatever I know, or actually I was told, that's more accurate, would remain, a kind-of, secret?"

For a second she thought she'd got away with it, but it was a brief second; though Sabre didn't move, a lot of other things in the room did and not one of them was in any way reassuring to the bat's inner sense of self-preservation. In scant seconds a whole plethora of materials both surgical and stationary were slowly orbiting Sabre's immobile form, held there by the gift inherited from his bloodline as his eyes locked onto her, glinting in a way far too reminiscent of Knuckles at his most mischievous, his voice likewise a precursor for trouble,

"Well that is a shame Rouge; in that case I advise you to brace yourself…", in a heartbeat everything was pointing directly at her, the bat pinned against the wall by just the sight of so many inanimate objects ranged against her so violently even as their ringmaster finished his assessment of his latest case study and delivered his diagnosis,

"…this may sting a touch".

XXX

The platter steamed gently as it was laid on the table by Vector's great hands, the aromatic moisture in the end sending those sat at the table almost ravenous in expectation to the taste of this roasted joint. As the crocodile took up the toasting fork and a long, thin-bladed paring knife, he stood to his full height with both the vapour from the meal he'd prepared and, thicker and even more ominous than that even, the tension in the air swirling around his ears,

"Righ', normal spiel; I spent time on this, yer're all gonna enjoy it yadda, yadda; Charm, 'ow many?" The bee offered his plate up meekly, the atmosphere around the table as a whole sucking the words out of even his light-hearted soul for now, his answer a mere mumble rather than a mirthful speech,

"Just a few please Vec, I'm not all that hungry", he offered by way of explanation, though he couldn't quite disguise the way his eyes had flickered just for an instant towards another seated occupant at the table; _and I couldn't agree more with you mate_. Though normally by most accounts something like a bottomless pit when it came to dining, tonight Vector's appetite had all but deserted him, though admittedly the solid knot of tension contracted up in his guts might have been hindering the normal progress of his meal somewhat as he realised the time he needed to strike was now fast approaching, in fact couldn't be more than minutes away. More to disguise his morbid thoughts of that near-future, the head of the Chaotix quickly carved away a few thin strips of the beef joint from the bone it had been cooked on and laid them on his friends' plate – he then repeated the motion for Mighty, giving the armadillo an extra couple of rashers as she'd out of all of them had the hardest day; _well, the hardest day so far at least_. The lead ball in his belly sinking ever lower as time was siphoned away underneath it, the crocodile handed Mighty her plate back and, accepting her thanks with a nod, turned and reached out for the last plate to be handled, apart from his own which he'd do last,

"An' you Esp – 'ow many?"

The look she gave him for the first instant betrayed an inkling of rebellion, but it was a spark that was very quickly crushed completely; though the chameleon didn't usually eat meat except in the form of fish, it seemed she'd decided that this time arguing wasn't going to get her anywhere fast and duly handed over her plate without a fuss. Taking it from her, Vector silently sliced off a few more slivers, all the time keeping his eyes on the table as a whole and wondering if the insane thing he was going to do; _and you are going to do it son_; he told himself firmly as something in his heart quailed at the thought of his latest plan; _no chickening out at this stage of the proceedings_; could possibly reconcile the two sides of this diametric argument.

Espio sat slightly alone, outcast even from her own team in the bottom-left corner of the table; Vector out of habit sat at what could either be called the head or tail of the table, depending on your view of the matter and for some reason the other two were both bunched up close together at his end, shying away from the chameleon as though afraid she might contaminate them with something nasty. Vector hadn't commented on this for two reasons, primarily that it would only have caused friction between the recently-reunited team; in circumstances as tense as these even the tiniest of sparks may have detonated an all-out firestorm, but also because in an oblique sort of way it made his more determined in his decision. The gulf between 'them' and 'her' as it stood now was too great to be straddled by mere words or gestures; this time something else was needed, something more powerful and potent than anything that had gone before. And as leader of the team, the crocodile thought coolly as he finished serving for himself and took the remains away to be chilled in the case of the remaining meat or washed in case of the utensils, the duty of at least starting such a potent display of sacrifice fell squarely on his shoulders; _the Chaotix is counting on you now Vector_; he gazed at his reflection in the tool he brought back to the table with him, staring himself dead in the eye; _so don't let them down._

Finally, a moment later when all were eating save one, no-one noticed the movement the crocodile made; how he rested the palm of one hand on the table next to his plate as though stretching off a cramping shoulder, and nor did they see him take up the recently rinsed carving tool again; for a second he came to the very edge of bottling it as panic and instinctive fear of pain threatened to take over, but somehow he wrestled them down and inch by inch, began to use the knife to slice open the newest meat he'd set its edge to.

The strangest thing was, the crocodile later realised, was that his earlier misconceptions and fears had been for the most part completely misplaced; as the chill steel began its torturous trek over and through his scaled flesh, a massive rush of adrenaline and other biological chemicals flooded his system but, surprisingly s he felt something warm start to trickle, then flow, then finally flood down his arm, there was no pain. _Funny that_; Vector mused with himself as he took a second to admire his handiwork as a dull chime from somewhere sounded in his ears; _the endorphins, or whatever they're called, must be blocking it all out for now – that's good I guess. It'll come later I'm sure, but right now I can do without the hurting – I'll deal with that when I get there, the later_; he even chuckled as the knife began its second tour of his forearm to a rising crescendo of shocked gasps and fledgling protestations;_ the better._

XXX

Though she would forever question herself as to how she managed it, Espio never actually saw what was going on at the head of the table until Charmy dropped his cutlery; perturbed by the sudden clink, she looked up; _what? Why's he…_; it was a thought she never finished she followed the direction his appalled eyes were travelling in, mouth dropped open in his face as white as whey – training or none, it was all Espio could do to keep the little dinner she'd eaten inside her as the sight, the scent and, yes, even the sound of trickling liquid hit her combined together, the red river flowing down the green scales swamping her vision, stifling her breath and drowning her in a tide of gore, unable to react, just forced to watch as the macabre play continued in front of her.

Blood, she'd never known a Mobian body hold so much of it, was pouring down Vectors' arm from halfway up his forearm; already it had saturated his glove completely and was sweeping out slowly, smothering the white tablecloth beneath a blanket of dull, stinking red. Paralysed utterly, Espio couldn't even blink as she saw the crocodile's other arm, his hand holding the blood-slicked knife he'd used to carve the meal that had now turned to bitter ashes in her belly, slowly creep upwards, his fingers turned inwards and guiding the reddened blade to just above the first two deep gashes he'd made in his flesh, the rent skin and scales bubbling with bright gore even as he set the edge of the knife to virgin skin. Sickened by the sight of what she was seeing but unable to look away, not wanting to see but betrayed by her body into having no choice, Espio watched on shocked violently as almost in slow motion, as if mocking her unresponsiveness, Vector's scales puckered and then were pierced under the edges of his latest future scar,

"Vector", a thin, reedy voice spoke from somewhere; only seconds after the event did the chameleon recognise it as her own, "what are you doing?" Her eyes were caught and pinioned to the sight of the latest cut, the way fresh vitae overflowed the lower lip of the pared-back skin and joined up with the slackening flow from the other, older wounds like a waterfall; she couldn't even look up as the crocodile's grunted reply came back to her ears, his voice laboured but not showing much of the pain he must have been in,

"Nuthin'". It wasn't nothing, she knew that; she also knew she wanted him to…

"Stop it"; once more her almost-dreamy voice reached her ears before her torpid brain had thought to voice the words,

"Why?" Only now could she look away; the horror before her eyes outweighed somehow by the blank openness of the crocodile's question; even his face showed no inkling of the pain that must have been screaming from the severed neurones in his arms; instead there was just the question, repeated again as she hadn't answered,

"Why Esp? I'm no' doin' anythin' serious 'ere; these ain't deep en'ugh t'kill me", only now was the façade crumbling – now she could hear her own voice within his, the words identical, only the cruelty unique to the crocodiles' explanations as he warped her words to his own ends, "it's nuthin' really – jus' need a few plasters like you, an' everythin'll…"

"_Stop it!_"

Something snapped; she didn't know what it was and she didn't much care either because now all her attention as she dived over the table was focussed on taking the knife, the knife that even as Vector had been speaking had been tracking its way back around his arm to try and begin the fourth slash, out of the clearly deranged crocodiles hands. Vision clouded by sudden tears Espio found herself flying almost blind; something was under her fingers and she snapped her grip down regardless, feeling with disjointed disgust the squirming feel of blood soaking up into her gloves, making her grip slither and less stable; overbalanced, she tried to force Vector's wrist around, exert enough pressure to force the blade away from his arm but he was too strong, in too fortified a position; seated as he was, no matter how hot her heart had suddenly become she could only delay the inevitable rather than prevent it outright; _but I have to_. She knew she did no matter how hard it might have been; even as she redoubled her previous maximal efforts to contain Vector's sudden suicidal urge the chameleon whipped her head about, tears flung from her eyes by the force and leaving her able to see something else, bystanders to this carnage, as paralysed as she had been,

"Stop him", she hissed through teeth gritted with strain both physical and, more draining than even that, emotional as well, "guys, get the knife!" _No_; they didn't move – right now when she had needed them more than ever before they had failed her; she did not see, could not have seen in the blurred, hurried picture she'd had, the strain she faced mirrored, in fact worse than that, exceeded in some cases by the other two, pinned as they were by the glance Vector had sent them to remind them of the promises they'd both sworn. The chameleon didn't observe their hands clasped in each other's under the table, nor did she see the tears flooding onto Charmy's cheeks as he watched the two Mobians in the world he loved destroy one another; that would come later, all that there was now was the words that came screaming from her in a torrent, desperate to pierce the haze of nihilism that was dragging Vector's life to the brink,

"Stop it; you're going to, to kill yourself!" Sobbing now with the effort of speaking amongst the other struggles she was engaged in, Espio was unaware of anything else, couldn't afford to be even consider anything else except this unexpected role of saviour, "Drop it, drop the knife or I'll break your wrist – I'm fuc…"

The world receded; for a moment she thought she was blacking out through stress and hyperventilation; the sudden crunching pain in her back rather put paid to that theory however; shaking her head to clear out the cobwebs, the chameleon looked down at herself; _I'm bleeding!_ Tiny droplets of blood speckled her chest – had Vector's hand slipped and sliced her rather than himself; _but I can't feel anything, there's no pain as if I'd been cut. Oh, no_; it made sense suddenly; the disorientation and the pattern of gore splashed down her front – she made to scrabble back to her feet, forcing her drained, battered body up once more; she made it to halfway before raising her head and seeing the scene before her cleared vision, desperation having shrivelled her tears to nothingness, just in time for the bellow to crash down on her ears,

"_Now_ d'ya unnerstand?!"

XXX

She'd managed to get around to standing up having been sprawled at the base of the wall he'd almost inadvertently knocked her into with little more than a buffet of both his maimed arm and the knife-wielding hand; that was going to have to do as Vector realised he had little time left before the pain he'd stored up at the back of his mind finally detonated like a megaton time-bomb,

"_Now_ d'ya unnerstand?" He wanted to do nothing more than find a small crevasse that led to the centre of the world and curl up into a tiny ball right at the very bottom of it but he planted his feet and pushed back against the rising surge of greyness threatening his senses – Espio had looked up at his first shout and that was something; now came the hardest part, getting her to really listen to the message he'd waited all night to deliver,

"Now d'ya know 'ow we felt?" He gestured over the table with his good arm, the knife still clutched in a death grip dribbling stray spatters of crimson onto the tablecloth and only missing Mighty and Charmy by good luck than judgement, "'ow I felt when I saw that bloody rag on yer 'and, Mighty when she 'adda 'old me back frum kickin' yer teeth in. And Charm", once more the knife was twirled aloft in his shaking grip, a dire, weeping baton for this blackest of dirges, "wh, when 'e figured out it were 'is razor y'were usin' ta cut yerself – _his_ razor Espio! We brought 'im that, you, me an' Might, fer when 'e became a man in 'is own right, an' then that. Well now ya know", pain finally seeping in from all directions, his arm the least of his worries now as he finally expelled the rage, grief and outright despair that had consumed him since last night and it reaped a bitter toll upon him, his last words a whisper rather than a final scream,

"Now ya know…"

Beyond stifled sniffs and sobs, and the slow, steady drip-drip of Vector's blood as it fell from the tips of his fingers onto the kitchen floor, as the two combatants in this all-out war were left surveying the wreckage they'd made of the other, there was silence; in the atmosphere that swirled around them all there were no words left that could be said, nothing would mean anything now after a raw display of such potent, primeval force such as the one Vector had just delivered. Ragged breathing from all the quartet filled the air; it had been as hard to sit on the sidelines of this battle as it had been to fight in it – only in the clearest mind did a thought germinate, a thought that grew from a seed planted what seemed now like eons ago; _I have to make a difference, and I have to make it now_;

"Vec", the ghostly whisper was joined by a squeaking noise as Charmy pushed his chair away, standing up shakily but standing regardless, holding out his hand and making a dull, logical demand,

"Give me the knife Vec".

XXX

What all of Espio's strength and technique had failed to accomplish, those few words succeeded in achieving; without as much as a murmur the crocodile numbly shuffled around to face his diminutive inquisitor and, pain rendering his movements stiff, slowly manoeuvred the knife around to offer it to the bee handle-first, the correct and safe way to do so. For his part Charmy said nothing; he nodded as he took his burden and began to trudge into the kitchen, either ignoring or completely unaware of the sudden blur of motion behind him, nor of the appalled expression on Espio's face as her eyes dogged his every pace, the sight of the crocodiles' blood staining the bee's gloves crimson gruesomely transfixing to such a point that it was only when something large and oblique blocked her vision that she realised Mighty had moved at all.

She'd done nothing until she was sure, utterly and completely convinced in her own mind, that she could trust herself to keep her head firmly planted on her shoulders; quite possibly the worst thing to tip the scales of this equation as it stood now was even the merest hint of hysteria creeping into the mix. Charmy had in fact beaten her slightly to the punch in a way – up until he'd effortlessly taken charge of the situation she'd been ready to get to work and stop Vector inflicting any more damage on himself, but now that was taken out of her hands she had a more vital function to pursue. She was only grateful that the placemats were actually mats; because of that fact she didn't have to waste time looking for some kind of tourniquet, she simply used the closest thing to hand. Scattering plates and adding further ruination to the already suffering tablecloth, the armadillo raced around the table and steeled herself to survey the wounds at ever close range, the scent of blood heavy in her nostrils and making her feel sick,

"Right Vec, take your hand away, slowly", she tutored him every step of the way, forcing herself to look as the crocodile, having instinctively clamped his free hand down on the slashes as soon as he'd been relieved of his burden by Charmy, slowly heeded the sense in her words and began to peel the now gore-slicked palm of that hand away again. Stringy stands of vitae hung like vermillion puppet strings, playing at the edges of the wounds until the gradually increasing distance snapped them apart, the sundering of each one greeted with a wince or a sharp hiss of breath from between Vectors' teeth, until eventually Mighty was able to see the full extent of the damage. As always in such circumstances it was both better and worse than she'd expected; blood was still leaking from the edges of all but the topmost cut, that one having been made shallower by Espio's intervention; _first useful thing she's done in weeks_. The thought made her chuckle humourlessly even as she began to wind the sturdy makeshift bandage around Vector's stout forearm, at all times paying the closest attention to the reactions such movements generated and immediately ceasing the pressure at the slightest twitch of discomfort on the broad, flat face before her. Focussed on her labours as she was, the armadillo paused in her work only once and stopped only once the task in hand was done, just in time to see the encore of this dance macabre reach a last, despairing crescendo.

XXX

Ripped in twain by conflicting desires and wants Espio could not move; she had watched what had transpires before her eyes simply because she had lost even the ability to blink, to turn her head away, as the storm in her mind had whipped up into a fully fledged whirlwind. She was responsible for this; as far as Vector's cuts were concerned she might as well have plunged the knife in herself and trying to interfere in any way was only certain to make things worse, but she wanted so desperately to try and make things right, take the first step on the path of atonement she had to travel now. The two adders of logic and duty wrestled and fought in her mind; even when one of the urges had momentarily proved itself the stronger and she had taken a step forwards towards where the lamed crocodile stood erect and noble still, Mighty had turned on the spot and delivered a look of such caustic poison that it had knocked her backwards physically – clearly, the chameleon concluded quickly, she'd brook no trespass of her nursing the injuries the ninja was directly responsible for. _What do I do now?_; the question she'd asked only once before now had no answer – always so sure of her purpose and direction she could now no longer even see the path beneath her feet, and with the acts of treason she had committed so blatantly, she had also surely forfeited the right to any guidance from the others; _what do I do now? Alone again_; because she was, and she deserved to be; _how do I survive?_;

"Esp", the chameleon didn't realises he was being addressed until Vector's voice rose to a rumbling growl, "Espio, you lissenin'?" She could only assume he saw a nod she had no memory of delivering; despite Mighty's protestations that she wasn't done yet, the crocodile lifted his arm out of her reach and thrust it forwards, the sight of it almost as dangerous from her as the knife he'd been using earlier,

"Good, 'cause yer gonna 'ear this now", Vector spoke in a tone that, though angry, didn't come across as such – in fact rather than rage, certainty seemed to be the overriding factor in his voice, "yer stayin' 'ere chameleon, stayin' if I'ave ta nail yer door an' windows shut"; _staying – how could you possibly want me to stay…?_; "Might'll check y'out every night an' if there's any more o'that", he jerked his head irritably towards her left hand before, a wicked smile splitting his lips, he twisted his arm towards her, the blood crusted by now and beginning to flake to the tabletop as magenta snow, "I'll d'the same Esp, same as you. But longer, deeper", he shook his hand in the air, utterly without mercy by now as the ninja was reduced to shaking her head, hot tears smouldering in her eyes again as the crocodiles' last words reached her ears, each one sizzling in the air with undisguised malevolence,

"Twice as much blood – think 'bout it Esp, what'ya sayin' t'that?"

_Well, I think I managed it_; it had taken serious brainwork, sweat, tears and, in his case especially, blood, but that didn't matter right now; _I think she's about ready to finally listen to us_. The pain from his arms seemed to dim as he recognised that truth – he couldn't remember the last time he'd seen Espio this rattled, her ice-cold persona melted to this degree, if it ever had been before. Despite that truth, however, the crocodile still possessed an idle curiosity about the depths of the reaction he'd provoked by now – just how would the chameleon react to this, what could she say to him now?

For a long, long second, the answer appeared to be nothing; the chameleons' ability to speak appeared to have vanished along with her will to do any more than simply stand where she was and shake her head, a useless, futile gesture of defiance that had been rendered utterly meaningless by the events preceding it. The first signs of life she displayed, however, where encouraging from Vectors' point of view; as her pupils shrunk until the auburn hues of her irises threatened to constrict them completely, it made him think that the sacrifice had been worth it after all, that he'd forced the issue at last and shown Espio what her actions had meant to them all. As her scales went white it was still all to the good; however, doubt was creeping in when the crocodile finally realised that her pin-prick stare wasn't aimed at him at all – it was aimed to the side of him, the other side to where Mighty was still standing.

"Charmy", the strangled wail that issued from the chameleon's throat wasn't one he recognised; in fact he was so caught up in the fact that he might for the first time be hearing Espio's real voice that he missed the name entirely until the chameleon finished her horror-struck demand, "put that down _now!_"

XXX

The irony was so blatant and so alluring that the bee smiled; Espio, actually almost begging him to do something, such a treat was so rare it was worth savouring, just for an instant, no matter what the circumstances were. He could hear her speaking on and out of interest tuned in for a moment, not that what she was saying was going to alter his decision in any way,

"You hear me, put the knife down, just let go of it…", she was even moving towards him now – why would she do that? Surely she must have known that she'd never be able to clear that distance, or was her fabled ninjistu logic failing her right at this moment; _hmm, not sure I've ever felt that from her before I she was always telling us ninjas do not show fear_;

"…Charmy, listen to me", the chameleon fought to hold her emotions in check – yes everyone at this table was highly-strung at the moment and given what had just happened before their eyes that wasn't surprising, but she had to put a rational lid on this over-spilling brew before someone else scalded themselves, "this won't help, whatever you're thinking isn't going to do any good – look around you", she saw his head turn around, the glass that had slid over his eyes and carried on, hoping to evaporate that cataract before it blinded him to the consequences of his actions completely,"there's nothing slashing yourself will do, put the blade down or, or better yet, throw it away, yeah, just chuck it to the side – you shouldn't, you don't have to…God damn it Charmy, "she committed the cardinal sin, her temper finally burning through and the split-second loss of concentration was fatal, "_listen_ to me!"

It was those words that made the dam break; surely the devils who had engineered this scenario had a twisted sense of humour; Vector was being completely serious, he was considering with perfect clarity an act that could possibly mould the future of the team as a whole, Mighty was using a tender touch instead of a sledgehammer fist and Espio was in tears – all the normal laws and unspoken rules of the Chaotix were surely being stood on their head. Unable to even say why he was laughing the bee carried on anyway, aware of the others looking at him in bemusement or, in one case, outright concern and it only made him howl even harder, the knife he'd just washed clean shivering in his grip, sending the water that patterned its blade tumbling to the floor in fat droplets as he raised it inch by inch towards the chameleon who'd just bellowed at him,

"No, no not this time", the humour receded and Charmy was his own Mobian again, standing up tall and speaking in a quiet voice that hit harder than even the loudest scream, the tone of a Mobian in complete control of himself and fully aware of his own actions, "this time Espio you are going to listen to me".

He waited a second, a vitally important space of time to let that message sink in, continuing only the instant he saw something change in her face, his burst of speed catching her off-guard and lapsing her into silence again,

"I've heard what Vector had to say and I think he's right, up to a point", the tip of the knife flickered upwards, raised as a finger would be as the bee shook his head at something, a point only he could see at the minute, "but I reckon he's forgotten, just like you have, what we all agreed earlier, what the entire Chaotix is – you remember it? Well from my memory, which is far from perfect I'm the first to admit, it goes something like this; we are a family here Espio, the Chaotix is not just a workforce and this isn't just some office you come into and work nine-to-five before going home and shutting down, it is your home, our home", the bee's free hand waved out, encapsulating where Mighty was still trying to tend to Vectors' wound at the same time as lend an ear to what the bee was saying, listening almost as hard as Espio was as Charmy went on,

"We are a family Espio, we are all part of each other; the Chaotix work together, we play together, we laugh and we cry together and now", he hefted a sigh, shaking his head as though disappointed at something, not dropping his gaze from the chameleon's face as it seemed to collapse in on itself, crumpling as once more the chameleon was helpless before the point of the poniard as it rose steadily in the air, "now because you've said we had to, because you demand that we have to do this…"

She moaned, trying to take a step forwards, words jammed together and jumbled in her throat as the tip finally found its home nestled in the fur of the insects shoulder; Espio tried to meet his eyes, try to convince him without speaking that this wasn't the right way; she tottered forwards a pace, hands groping blindly in front of her, desperate to reach out and try to stop this happening, prevent the seed of her folly bearing a deadly, dangerous fruit.

The knife moved downwards; as Charmy's face twisted in pain a dagger a thousand times as sharp lanced straight through the chameleon's chest – what Vector had done had been beyond endurance, but Charmy; how had it come to this? What had made the bee resort to self-violence and harm, what had _she _done to make him use this last, desperate fall-back; _but I know_; and that was the worst part, the burning salt in the wound that prevented all hope of recovery now; _I already know, what I've done, and how they've suffered for it_;

"…we'll bleed together".

XXX

In a kitchen in a home like a thousand others within the city of Echidnopolis everything stood still; even though two of the assembled were now bleeding and a third seemed to be almost unhinged with self-recrimination and guilt, no-one seemed able the smash though the barrier of disbelief that had set over the party like a layer of cement. If emotion alone had been able to speak, however, the discordant voices all mingling together would have rendered deaf anyone within earshot, and even this cacophonic choir accelerated its rise towards the very limits of the mind's equivalent of the sound barrier as suddenly Charmy jerked again, something hard and heavy closing on his hand, slowly but insistently dragging the knife clear from the scratch he'd made in his shoulder,

"Give it here Charm"; _Mighty_; the voice rather than the strength allowed him to recognise who was speaking; he hadn't dropped his gaze from where it was drilling through Espio and into the wall behind her yet, "let it go". Her fingertips scrambled to get beneath his and eventually his hand, coiled into as tight as fist as the bee had ever made, was forced to yield, popping open and letting the once more bloodied blade fall into another's grip. The bee felt more than heard the armadillo move again, the knife set on the table, the point of it still wet, as he felt Mighty take up his hand again,

"Charm, don't look", she said unnecessarily – there was no way in hell the bee was ever going to drop his gaze from the rapidly-disintegrating Mobian in front of him, in a strange, detached way revelling in the tears as they slobbered down the chameleon's face; _maybe she's finally realising how deep this is going_; it was a wishful thought but Charmy seriously doubted it was a true one, though truth be told as the chameleon's display of open sorrow wore on he found those doubts beginning to erode away slightly; _maybe she's finally understanding this isn't just about her any more_; "I just need you to hold here, just a minute", something spongy and soft, but surprisingly warm, flexed under his palm and he pressed down on it as she commanded, seeing the armadillo's arm almost bisect his vision again before retreating, this time with something else in tow. Deep down, certainly below the pain that still ached in his shoulder and possibly even below the steely resolve that was now helping to pin Espio down like a bug in dissection class, the bee felt himself cheered as Mighty's final words came through to him, a flame kindled in kinship to burn brightly beside his own and the one the Mobian who's forearm he was holding together had also lit,

"It's my turn now".

XXX

_Move_.

It was a simple instruction, perhaps the simplest function of neurones and synapse impulses a multi-cellular organism could string together; if that was the case though, why was it proving so impossible for her to complete, especially in the light of the circumstances she was being faced with? The basic laws of biology state that an organism, any organism from bacteria to bullock, will move from negative stimuli to positive ones, so how was it so that Espio Chameleon now found herself rooted to the spot, unable to do anything but continue observing the scene in front of her, the most damaging set of stimuli she'd ever seen in her life?

_Move._

Even when Mighty had turned her back with a last contemptuous glare in her direction she'd been unable to heed her new, overpowering goal in life; she already knew what she'd see when the armadillo reappear, another slice carved wholly out of her own heart but still she could not flee from it; unlike normal pain, these wounding seemed to have obliterated her abilities to react instead of exacerbating them. It was all she could do to breathe and continue staring at the scene before her, knees buckled underneath her as she sprawled against the wall, vertigo making everything tilt dizzily and granting a whole unique perspective on the sight of the other two members of her team, elongating the side of Charmy's face as the insect tended to the dreadful wounds on Vectors' arm. The stink of the room now, the unique aromas of individual bloods mingled in the air and made her stomach lurch queasily, even though it was still pitifully empty after the previous night and most of the day without much to fuel it.

_Move…move now. Now before…_

The lock was broken just as the sound of running water was lost again; whimpering in horrified certainty as she could see the future looming up before her, a bloodstained armadillo accusing her with those terrible, flint-hard eyes, Espio had nothing left to give and no ability to take any more of this emotional torture. With the grace of a dying whale the chameleon seemed to traverse on the spot, her feet tangling together and bereft of her normal grace as she fell to the ground; she barely felt the impact under the weight of her vehement need to get out of this room, away from these insane Mobians who were killing her with their own alien loyal and even kind desire to share the burden they could not begin to comprehend. Or could they; was that why they were injuring themselves so, to prove their worth, their ability to understand the trauma that still governed her every decision even now – this question, however poignant, still went unanswered and even unconsidered as the chameleon simply threw one arm in front of the other and heaved herself forwards, crawling for the exit on her hands and knees as heavy footfalls sounded in the distance, fresh rolls of thunder in this emotional storm. Sobs finally tearing from her throat and almost certain she was about to hurl her guts up, Espio managed to push herself half-upright and throw herself forwards, hitting the doorway at speed with her shoulder, not looking back as, just behind her, Mighty's voice intoned with solemn melancholy a final inflection, one that hit all the harder because Espio knew, had no choice but to be certain of the fact, that it was completely true,

"Remember this Esp", not able to see through the tears in her eyes, the reptile hit the bottom stairs with the toe of her shoe and pitched forwards again, feeling the rough edges of the stairs in front of her and beginning to heave themselves upwards, a mountaineer lashed by a ferocious wind of toxic words, "you did this, you brought it all down to this and after all your words and the ninjistu you're so proud to have and adhere to, you're not even here to see it". She couldn't be there, she couldn't see what the other three had done; to do so now would have destroyed her utterly; everything in her body screaming with a different inflection of pain, the chameleon made it to the top of the stairs and fought for air, trying to breathe in over the wail of outright denial that was building up in her chest and demanding a release now. Shuffling forwards on her knees, as far upright as she could make herself now, the chameleon hit something in front of her and scrabbled along it, not sure what she was searching for but finding only a sudden empty space – desperate for any port in a storm, she crawled inside but not fast enough, too slow not to hear the armadillo, her voice higher-pitched and laced with pain now, deliver a final lash with her verbal whip, one that scoured right down to the bone of her now-tattered, dishevelled pride,

"Coward".

XXX

Whatever it was that was holding them upright seemed to depart them all at once; just as Espio had slithered out the kitchen door sobbing, so did whatever force bearing them all erect also bow out of the picture, leaving the Chaotix to face the stark reality of the gruesome feats they had just undertaken. All at once tears of pain rather than sorrow sprang up in Charmy's eyes, Mighty almost dropped to one knee and clapped her hand to the freely bleeding scratch she'd traced along her bicep but by the far the worst of them affected was Vector – the crocodile swayed so alarmingly it was only due to Charmy's emergency assistance that he didn't fall over at all,

"Damn", the words came numbly to the crocodiles' lips, a vague feeling of sleepiness starting to fall over him, "damn…"

"Damn is about right", forcing herself to stand up Mighty decided she had to take the lead here for a lack of other suitable options; _Charmy's already done enough, more than enough, to have to take charge of any more today_; "anyway, don't faint you; recessive genes or none I'm not lugging your heavy carcass through the main gates of the Echidnopolis general". It took Vector a few minutes to work out what the armadillo meant by that, time Mighty wisely spent hurrying around the table, gathering up more of the place mats for emergency bandaging if the situation demanded it,

"'Ospital? But Might…"

"'But Might' nothing", she shot back without looking, hefting the last of the stout little towels up and patting her pockets, checking she still had her keys, "I'm no doctor but those look like they need stitches – Jesus Christ Vec, why the hell did you rip your own arm up, because of _her?!_"

"Seemed like a good idea at the time", the crocodile replied a second later with a weak chuckle, Charmy likewise sniggering at his lame line, "I take it there's no point tryin' to t'talk y'outta this?"

"None whatsoever". _Ah well, I can sleep in the van at least_;

"Fair 'nough; Charm", the bee glanced up almost fearfully as the head of the Chaotix looked blearily over his shoulder at him, "sorry mate, yer've drawn short straw this time 'round; you'll 'ave t'stay 'ere an' keep an eye on you-know-'oo, that square wi'ya?"

It took a few seconds for the bee to work out what his friend had meant by that statement, or more importantly who he'd been referring to, but when the pieces did fit together to complete the picture he drew himself up to his full height and nodded, his expression pale from pain and fatigue, but determined,

"You can rely on me Vec", for once his voice as cold as the weather outside, grim and unyielding, "trust me, she's not doing anything stupid on my watch; you did well by the way Might".

"Good lad – eh?" Not quite at his usual sharpness, the crocodile only deduced the end of the bees' sentence a few minutes after the event; seeing his confusion, Charmy shrugged over and spoke in the same factual account as Mighty glanced across, face haggard with exhaustion and stress at this new, unexpected angle of the problem,

"Cutting down, makes it easier for your fur to hide the scab – don't ask how I know", he held his hand up wearily before wafting it towards the door, "just get going, I'll clear up here. Go, go, now!" Finally reacting to his furious motions, the other two allowed themselves to be shooed into the hallway and then outside, Mighty diving for the driving seat of the teams' van as Vector leant against the side of the house, the chill wind around him not helping him remain in the land of the conscious; _but this is the question_; the one query that stopped him slipping off the edge, dredged his conscious back to the borders of the dreaming lands; _was what I did, what we all did_; a small touch of pride warmed his heart as he realised for perhaps the first time how deeply, truly deeply, the ethos of the team he'd tried to build had run in them all; _was it worth it – did it get the right result?_

It was that question and the fact that he didn't know the answer to it that sustained his consciousness throughout the drive to the hospital – though he remembered very little about the actual examinations he underwent upon arrival and even less of the drive back, the thirst for knowledge to the answer of the question kept the crocodile awake until finally he could assuage his need to know that what the Chaotix had collectively sacrificed had been enough to bring their errant member back into the fold.

XXX

All things come back to the beginning in the end; that was the cheerless thought that came first to Espio's mind when it came back to her shivering body, huddled against the nearest cold wall and allowing her to take in her surroundings again. Half-sitting up she gasped, then fell silent, immediately ashamed of herself for such a blatant confusing of past and present – this was her own home now, no-one could get in that she didn't want here, she was the master of her own destiny and no-one else…;_ that is a lie_.

Guilt, horrid, stomach-churning guilt wracked her entire body with a force as strong as a giant's fist; fighting to breathe again amid the emotions flooding over her chest, Espio felt suddenly light-headed as her self-justifications of where she was were dashed in mid-flow by the memories of what had driven her here in the first place. _I'm not in control any more – the others_; those she loved, despised, hated and could not be parted from – the three other Mobians who had just destroyed her; _they made me react, they made me do things – that cannot happen, it should not happen_; she stood up, anger suddenly the dominant tide in the sea washing around her brain; _how dare they injure themselves, just to try and make a point against me! How dare they_; unbidden a tear rippled down cheeks already encrusted by the dried-up corpses of those who had preceded it; _how dare they, but they dared_; that crimson flow again seeping down arms both scaled and furred made her clap a hand over her mouth, sickness choking her ability to draw breath again; _but they damn well dared_.

Where was her strength; it had always been there before when she'd been stood here, the razor's edge pressed against the back of her hand and ready to caress it apart, let her scales be sundered like a thin skein of silk to let the lovely pain sweep over her system in a heady, almost euphoric release. Now in the mirror though, there was nothing but a weeping face, scared and alone in this darkness within a small, almost claustrophobic bathroom; it was a face Espio recognised but could not accept as her own, a sight she had despised from the first moment she'd seen it – having railed against it so long, how could it still endure? And how could it still plead, make its case against this course she'd set herself, and she listened to it still – surely there was nothing left to do now but accept what had happened and mete out the punishment that was due from her. _It was my fault the others were injured – I have to do this…_;

"_Might'll check you out every night…"_

And now it was using another's voice to make it's point; Espio whimpered in the gloom, shivering not from the cold, but from the grim reminders of her own tortured id as she clung to the raft of her strength, the life raft that was even now fragmenting under her very fingertips.

"…_an' if there's any more o'that, I'll d'the same Esp…"_

The shudders became more violent, she was forced to lift the razor up to make sure she didn't cut herself by accident – that wouldn't count for her punishment she was sure. The others wouldn't understand, there was no way they could – they hadn't experienced what she had, there was no way they could possibly reconcile their world with the bleak planet she inhabited.

"…_same as you"._

But damn them they were trying; her teeth gritted so hard they squeaked Espio silently cursed each and every one of them for making the effort; she wouldn't have done the same in their shoes and of that she was sure. But was that the point maybe – another angle to consider the impossible problem from; because they did at least attempt, did that make them stronger than she was at the moment?

"_But longer, deeper…"_

Unbidden and unwanted her mind had carried on the memory; hearing Vectors' words again was beyond the limit she could take; unable to even look at herself any more the chameleon ripped her eyes from the mirror, glancing down at something, anything to try and stop the last few words echoing through her head towards her. What she saw, however, discernable even in the poor light around her, was something else entirely, something perhaps more damaging than the mere words alone.

Her arm, the one she had recently subjected to the kiss of frigid iron, had changed colour, its usual purple changing to a deep emerald and, even as she watched on with her gorge rising, the first few cells of her polychromatic skin scales began to shift again, turning from that green to another vivid, striking colour, a violently contrasting crimson.

"…_twice as much blood"._

XXX

Nausea hit her in the gut suddenly, unstoppably; only an instinctive twist of her head allowed most of her projected dinner to head to the waiting receptacle mounted to the wall. Knees turning to water the chameleon collapsed, still retching as she tried to shuffle towards the toilet, preserve at least a scrap of dignity in this total breakdown. It might have done a little good for the décor but overall the effect didn't soothe the chameleon's battered mental state; the second sight of the green arm streaked with blood had shattered her completely; now her reserves of mental fortitude were as empty as her stomach, washed away in a tide of gore shed willingly for just that intent. _Why did they do it?_; it was a question she couldn't even understand, never mind answer; _why did they do that for anyone – I'd never have done the same. If you can't solve your own problems you're just not good enough – what was I doing so wrong? _Knuckles grinding against the front of her forehead, Espio tried to grate an answer out of her mind but she failed, completely and utterly failed in this idea; the stance the other three – had it just been Vector alone that would have been bad enough, but to see Charmy and even Mighty, Mighty who she could not stand at all for squandering her gift of strength as she did, jump on the bandwagon as well was just salt in the wound – had taken was unlike anything she'd ever experienced before in her life. Self-sacrifice was an art she was well versed in and rightly so, but sacrifice for others…; _hang on a minute_.

Something else rose in her mind at that precise second, an issue so vast it temporarily blotted all the others out of her current circumstance; both her hands were in front of her face now, and both of them were empty. But that couldn't be right, she knew that; in one of them she'd been holding – oh no, oh surely no!

She found what she was looking for in the bath and when her vision took in the crazy fragments of sundered plastic shell and scattered metallic gizzards the chameleon nearly blacked out through a combination of disappointment and self-shame. Her grip must have slipped when she'd turned and the razor in her hand had plummet against the hard side of the bath, the velocity of its impact breaking it completely; _and it was his razor_; the fact that she'd smashed something that didn't belong to her made her crime ever more dire in her eyes;_ the one we all brought him for Christmas, when he grew into a man in his own right. Maybe I can fix it_; her hands suddenly dove into the pile of fragments in front of her, filled with a new, buzzing source of energy that seemed to bubble out of nowhere, stretching her lips into a wide, almost demented grin; _yes, I'll just fix this, the bits will all go back together and no-noel ever know, that's how it'll be_.

It was a noble thought, perhaps the first one the chameleon had had since Christmas had come and gone, but it was ultimately a forlorn one as anyone with even a mite of rationality left in them would have informed her. Driven by desperation, what began as a carefully co-ordinated attempt to repair the razor rapidly degenerated into a frantic whirlwind of the chameleon bashing random bits of the metallic carcass together in the vague desire to fuse them together again. _It's broken, broken and I can't fix it_; she knew it logically but would not, could not accept it as fact, not yet – she had broken it, she had to repair it, had to stop herself from hurting someone else today; _hurting someone_; the thought made her laugh, a bitter, caustic sound as she coolly reviewed her recent actions; _that's all I've been doing isn't it? _

_I never said so much as a single kind word to anyone since, since whenever – that's just it isn't it, I don't do anything for anyone except me. It's all because of me that the others did what they did tonight_; the truth was a more painful matter than any of the filthy accusations she'd thrown around beforehand, tears escaping her already aching tear-ducts as she threw down the fragments of plastic in her hands and slammed her palms into her eye sockets again; _they tore themselves up because they care for me, I never did the same for them and now this – Charmy'll be furious when he find out his razors' broke, but more than that it'll hurt him, because that's what I'm good at, all I'm good at_; the wall at her back again as she huddled and hunched over, not caring of anything else as her false partitions of strength gave way and the bottom dropped out of her world, pitching her headlong into a poisoned well of demonic torments; _all I do, is hurt._

The last fleeting thought that ran through her mind before it was swept away by the all-consuming misery was irony, as this was far from the first time she'd been left alone in the dark, sitting in her own squalor and with nothing but the wreckage of her own emotions for cold comfort.

XXX

He had been patient but watchful; his pulse had certainly quickened at the sound of a thump from upstairs and for an insect that was no mean feat, but only when he was certain he'd finished all the clearing up he could do that he finally screwed up his courage, took a deep breath and ascended the first stair upwards. Though far from sure what could possibly await him there Charmy was just too wrung-out to really give a toss either way; as far as he was concerned about the only way Espio was going to affect him now was going to be her corpse tripping him up; _actually_; noticing how dark it was, the bee fumbled to the side of him for a moment; _better make sure that doesn't happen, where's the light switch? Ah_; sudden illumination flooded the landing and he blinked – well, the hall was deserted and that was something – a second later, he realised something else and his hard-nosed attitude softened slightly as the sound of piteous weeping reached his ears.

His shadow filled the door impressively and because of it, spotting the chameleon took a second longer than it would have done; unaware of her condition, Espio had blended in with the background once more, only her shaking giving her away as she continued to cry, unaware of her audience until Charmy gave a slight cough,

"Esp", he shook his head, at a loss for anything else productive to say. Fortunately the need for further conversation was rendered null and void as the wretch shivering in the corner finally seemed to realise the breach into her formerly solitary confinement. Raising her head slightly, only just avoiding gouging her knee with her horn, the reptile looked up and drew in a shuddering breath, Charmy watching on impassively,

"H…Help", it was a faint, faraway voice, a lost, ghostly tone calling for a response from the land of the living, "please, help me". She couldn't hold her head up long enough to see the reaction; her lack of energy submerged her once more and she was left alone and unsupported, but for a few seconds only as something else, some outside force finally took an interest in her plight and threw warm arms around her, beginning to banish the chill as she wept all the harder in her team mates' arms,

"Esp", it was Charmy who was talking; Charmy who out of all of them she belittled and browbeat every time she got chance to, he was the one who had thrown all the aside and had come to her aid, speaking when she now more than ever needed a warm voice to heed, "I want to help, we all want to help you, surely tonight's proved that to you"; _it has_; that people would go so far as to risk death for her had proved that fact and never had she been so grateful for it,

"But we can't".

XXX

He'd had this script in his mind for a while now and carefully he stuck to it, not slackening his grip as Espio's shoulders began to pitch and buck ever more violently as she took his last statement as a sign that she'd been cast out, she was past redemption. She was not of course, not if he had anything to do with it, but at the same time she had to know that things simply could not go on the way they had been, for any of them; it was obvious detective logic really – you couldn't begin to crack a case until you knew all the casework you could on it and in this instance, Espio had been holding back on them all,

"You don't speak to us Esp", the bee whispered into her ear, grateful when she began to settle down a little more; his arms were starting to ache, "you never tell us anything so we can't sort out the problem; how can we know what we're supposed to do if we don't know what the problem is? That's you're biggest problem Espio, you just never…"

"Don't call me that". _Huh?_;

"What?" That had been unexpected and thrown him off his stride somewhat, "Esp?"

"No", there was a deep sniff from somewhere around the level of the chameleon's mid-thighs, her head slowly raising up slightly more, her voice better able to speak clearly and be understood, "Espio, don't call me Espio".

"But that's…" Her frill shook from side to side and Charmy felt the blood in his veins turn to ice; _Christ, is it this fundamental – is this how deep she's been going with this false life thing?_;

"It's not my name; it's a lie, like everything else I've told you", finally he could see her face and bereft of all the normal emotional shielding she employed, the bee had no choice but to know she was finally telling the truth about something, "it's not me".

"So what is then? Look", he hadn't meant to ask that; he'd been thinking out loud almost and now looked to very hastily covering his tracks, "the important thing here is that anything can be licked if you've got the gumption for it, mum taught me that. We, the whole Chaotix that is, we can get you whatever help you need; there's gotta be someone in this city like a psychologist you can work things out with".

"No", it wasn't a hysterical denial and for that he was grateful – in fact if anything the chameleon looked determined as she shook her head again, "I can't see a shrink Charmy, I just can't and I know that", a judder passed through her whole body for a moment before she caught her breath again, the bee beginning to loosen his hold a little as he felt her begin to move, start to stand up alongside him, "where are the other two now? Downstairs?"

"Umm, no, not quite", he wasn't sure if he could sugar-coat this pill at all and in the end decided to tell the story straight, "Mighty's driven TGG to hospital – nothing serious", he hastened to add, just in case the chameleon was assailed with images of the crocodile on his deathbed and yet more guilt was foisted onto an already overburdened conscience, "just checking nothing needs stitching; they'll be back in an hour, no more than that I reckon". The eye closest to him rolled around to try and size him up; he could only cross his fingers and hope he passed its inspection,

"Good", shuffling backwards the bee avoided being knocked over as the Mobian he had known for as long as he could remember as Espio Chameleon stood up to her full height, voice strained but still strong in the light of all that had happened, "we wait until they get back then, after that", she swallowed and even from his lower position Charmy could tell how much this was paining the chameleon to admit, even to herself,

"After that, there's some things the Chaotix need to know; after everything you've done tonight", her eyes flashed down at him, cold fire filling the light brown irises until they nearly crackled with purpose and intense, almost insane drive, "it's my responsibility to get this all out in the open now – it's all ending tonight, I have had enough of it and you", the fire was cooled, dampened from its course by benevolence as she shivered again, offering her hand to help Charmy to his feet, "should not have to put up with my problems any more".

A/N: What problems are these to have caused so much strife? From what you have read already, should they remain at T-rating, or should it go up a level further – please let me know and, I warn you yet again, approach the next chapter with caution if you are of a nervous, or emotional, disposition.


	10. Chapter 10 Shattering the Mirror

Chapter 10 – Shattering the Mirror

Chapter 10 – Shattering the Mirror

A/N: I've listened to the reviews I've had and, listening to them, decided to keep this fic a T-rating; the reason for this is that what's written below is not, in my opinion, as terrible as the previous chapter – once more if you disagree please don't hesitate to get in touch. However, as always, the reviewers:

Ri2 – Break her – surely that was never the intention; break through to her maybe, but the question still remains has it been enough to work?

MS – My thanks for the review, especially the spelling mistakes – they truly are the bane of my life, especially as they're never all flagged up on screen. Hope this next chapter's something like what you were hoping for.

RS – Short-sighted possibly, but then again it's probably been as much of a shock to them as it has been to her. Will you find the answers you seek in this chapter – I certainly hope so...

SM – Wow, I like those kind of reviews; very in-depth and thought-provoking. Just one point though – can a species that changes colour at will ever really have a 'proper' colour? Just a little poser to mull over – I know I did for a good few days!

LH – Teen for now, but if you read this chapter I think I'm right in saying the worst may be behind us, for now...

The night passed above him, velvety blackness interspersed with the harsh neon glare of a street lamp as he stared upwards through the windscreen of the van, the pain vanished and his normal thought processes dulled a little under the pharmaceutical bliss the kindly nurse had administered. Rolling his eyes downwards Vector flexed his hand a couple of times; there was a little twinge of pain here and there but, overall, the effect could have been far worse – luckily the streets had been near enough deserted and as such Mighty had been able to put her foot down and hammer them both across town the fifteen or so minutes it took to get to the local echidnean hospital. His hand was now bare, the glove that had covered it having been peeled off and then hastily discarded into the nearest contaminated waste bin as a potential health hazard; _and it wasn't doing much for the décor either truth be told – red never did go well in a hospital environment_; before the nurse had carefully cleaned up and then wrapped up his wounds under the watchful eye of a nearby sister. _He'll do all right for himself that one_; the crocodile found himself musing charitably as he recalled the expression of intense conversation on the young echidna's face as he'd rolled the bandage over and around the crocodiles' forearm, determined to get the dressing right first time; _if he can get on with someone as hard-nosed as that looking over his shoulder the pressure sure won't get to him at least_.

He almost chuckled at his own thought before absent-mindedly running his unblemished hand over the aforementioned tourniquet as he weighed all things up in his mind – overall this part of his plan could have gone far, far worse that it actually had; there had been very few awkward questions to contend with for a start though that was, he was first to admit, due a lot more to luck and good judgement. The receptionist at the front desk had caught just a glimpse of the state of the crocodiles' arm, promptly turned as green as he was and hit the panic button, whisking both Vector and Mighty right to the front of the treatment queue where the trainee nurse who'd seen to them had been so intent on getting his part of the job right that the unusual shape and size of the other Mobians' wounds had probably never even occurred to him. _And the other one was too far away to get more than a glance either_; another one of the very few blessings in this night as a whole sparkled in time with another streetlight passing overhead, the glare reflected in his moonstruck face as the thought in his mind at the moment lazily swam to the ocean of its conclusions; _and even when he stood up and asked how it happened, that was a hell of a line you bowled him with Might_;

"Where'd y'ear that'un 'fore Might?"

"Hmm?" Her eyes not moving off the road in front of her, the armadillo answered from the corner of her mouth, "what one you talking about?"

"You know", the crocodile cajoled as much as he was able to in his semi-spaced out state, "when 'e said 'bout 'ow me arm got bloodied up?"

"Oh that"; _what did I say exactly?_; most the drive there, the fifteen or so minute stay in hospital and now the trip back were a confused whirr of blurring white, grey and dark black pastels as far as she could remember; if she had come up with a line it hadn't been due to her carefully thinking about it that was for sure, "er, what did I say exactly?"

"Err, I ferget", he remembered the words about as well as she did, "jus' as well Lara's leave's well'an truly kicked off though, innit?"

"You can say that again", the armadillo repeated lifelessly, the tone almost robotic as she turned a gentle left corner, all the emotion wrung out of her by what had happened, the events that had conspired together to wrench her previously-ordered life apart; _it was so simple – there was the team and there was a welcome break from the team whenever I fancied a break to Mystic Ruins. Now though_; what was there left – had the damage been done already, the chameleon who'd brought all this about gone beyond all hope of seeing the statement of intent the rest of her fellows had laid down for her, even in such an obvious format? What was she doing even now, and would her plans clash with those of the one left behind to monitor her progress, the one who out of all of them was probably the least-prepared for circumstances such as these and yet had made the biggest impact on the night? Horrid visions filling her head Mighty once more stamped down on the accelerator a mite too hard, the whole van kangarooing forwards before she could disengage the clutch,

"'Ey!" Vector looked over, the dislocation for the sudden lurch penetrating the slight fugue from his medication, "careful if ya don' mind; sum o'us gotta bad arm t'nurse". Shaking her head as much as her shell would let her, Mighty answered from the corner of her mouth,

"Sorry pal, no sympathy from me; you were insane enough to go through with a plan as far out there as that you live with the consequences". Vector seemed to consider this for a minute before settling back in the seat, shrugging moodily as his gaze straying once again to the fresh, clean bandages,

"Me pa once said a li'l 'sanity goes a long way; I think I jus' figured out wha'e meant". Mighty snorted, a rough, ugly sound but one that nevertheless seemed to sum up the present mood within the van itself,

"And taught us lot into the bargain as well. Anyway, never mind about you, or at least", Mighty cursed herself mentally as she heard her own words in time to realise how unfeeling they sounded; _damage limitation now_; "not right at this minute at least – what's important now is that we get home and figure out where to go between us all. Who knows what's going through her mind right now; Christ I'm barely sure what's going through mine".

"No change there then". Mighty clenched her fist threateningly, speaking as Vector cowered back in mock-fear,

"Just because you're suffering I'll let you off; now sit still, pipe down and let me get on with the very important business", she broke off for a minute, rolling the van to a halt at an inconvenient traffic junction, "of getting us home in one piece".

XXX

_Seven and a bit minutes Might_; having checked his watch as he'd stepped outside into the cool evening air, Vector raised an imaginary eyebrow as he mentally congratulated his team mates' achievement; _and once upon a time you were a nervous driver? Guess it just took a potentially near-death experience to get you out your shell this time around_; the mental innuendo made his smile for a second before the seriousness of the scenario reasserted itself and he sobered up rapidly. There was the reason the armadillo had send the speed limits creaking this time around and seeing the plain portal before him cut into the brickwork of his new home on Angel Island, the crocodile knew that a few minutes from now both of them would have to go back and confront that reason in its lair; having been away for even a half-hour could have been crucial as better than most, the former detective knew that a lot could go down in thirty short minutes. _And we had to leave Charmy to face up to it_; of all his regrets tonight that was the gravest, the one that still pulled at his conscious despite the pain of his wounds; _he shouldn't have to step up to the plate to deal with something like that. Hell_; as he heard the characteristic 'plink' of the vans' central locking system clinking into life after the standard pause common whenever Mighty was driving, the armadillo being notorious for always trying to lock her door with the key before remembering the stubborn thing would only accept the push of a button to seal itself up, Vector stood up tall and followed the armadillo as she finished giving the door handle a tug to make sure it was locked and set off up the path herself, still trying to justify his earlier decision,

"Vec", he was so lost in his thoughts that when she shouted his name he almost jumped and bellowed in fright, "Vector – pay attention!"

"Wha'", gabbling from lack of breath the reptile glanced down at where his mammalian team mate had traversed on her heel to look into his face, "wha'issit Might? We gotta get'n there".

"I know, but we're going nowhere until you listen to this Vector", just the tone of her voice told him in no uncertain terms to pay attention to what she had to say next, "do not, I repeat, do not blame yourself for this happening, any of this happening, do I make myself clear?"

"I guess…" A finger shot out and upwards, a point to focus all his attention as Mighty forcibly brought his tame assertation to heel,

"No guessing Vec; I want you to get this straight in your mind that whatever's forced Espio to get this divorced from reality, assuming the two of them were ever a happy couple", she gave a mirthless snort of laughter before continuing her forceful diatribe, "is due entirely to her and her inability to confide in anyone who wants to know. You couldn't have planned for this, hell if anything I'll praise you to the ends of the earth for doing what you've done for someone who I don't think deserved it".

"Bu' y'were in on it too", the crocodile protested, pointing at her injury that had, he was grateful to see and smell, had scabbed over already and hadn't needed treatment, "you an' Charm – I weren't th'only one slicin' an' dicin' in there". Mighty wafted a hand airily, almost as though his point was beneath her notice,

"We just got caught up in it; you started the whole thing off Vec, just you; you have done more than enough for that misery in there so I'm not having you dragged down as well no matter what she says or does next, okay?"

"A'right, a'right", he moaned wearily, shaking his head at the same time as massaging the bridge of his nose with his uninjured hand, "it's too late at night ta stand 'ere gettin' me ears chewed off". The armadillo tried to keep her face straight and managed it up until the point the scaly hand rose and she caught Vector's eye – the sardonic glint there broke her funny bone and she giggled, somehow able to laugh when just an hour ago she thought such an emotion would be forever beyond her again,

"Just as well; urgh, crocodile meat", she pulled an expression of distaste, "be better off chewing boot leather, or that joint you napalmed earlier". _Okay, that's the limit you_; he would almost happily take hits on his personal habits, his mannerisms and the battered old van he drove around almost proudly, but attacks on his cooking was a step too far for anyone,

"Well if yer not keen, you 'ave a go, though not fer a while yet", he winked a little as Mighty put her hands on her hips, trying to defeat the smile on her lips and subsume it beneath the majestic scowl the crocodiles' comments deserved, "I 'ate 'ospitals, murder on th'old sniffer; las' thing I need now's a night stay fer food poisonin'".

"The rate you're going it'll be a night if you're lucky", she shot back before shrugging, "still, I could always convince Big up here for a night – trust me once you taste his freshwater clams in parsley sauce", she shivered at the mere memory of her new favourite dish, "you never look back". Vector chortled before turning more serious, pointing over her shelled shoulder to the door that loomed up in his vision like a gate to the judgement of heaven itself.

"I'll take yer word fer it Might, but righ' now", she nodded, the joy sweeping away from her like air from a punctured balloon as once more the direness of the situation suffocated everything else in a morose cloud of depression, "there's people in there 'oo need us, an' righ' now", he pushed forwards, the leader of the team again and rightly taking his place at the head of the operation, the burden of leadership once more his to shoulder as he set his hand to the front door hand, key held firmly in his injured hand despite the twinges from his hand, "we're keepin' 'em waitin'".

XXX

The door opened quietly and the pair of them slipped inside, eyes and ears alert and twitching for anything that might have betrayed movement or motion; almost in the same instant the light peeking cautiously out from under the kitchen door caught in their vision. Breathing charged with static power, the two of them advanced down the hallway an inch at a time, muscles humming in readiness for action; it took what seemed an eternity before Vector was able to reach forwards, the tips of his gloved fingers brushing the handle of the door, a last minute look over his shoulder to make sure Mighty was prepared for this, accepting the armadillo's barely perceptible nod before screwing up whatever courage he had left after the night so far and pressed downwards. The click that greeted his ears as the bolt slid back sounded like the gate of heaven slamming shut, the characteristic creak of the kitchen door that he habitually reminded himself needed oiling was the cackling of delirious devils racing to see what would happen next as he breathed in a last time and slowly, torturously, pushed it open.

His vision was everywhere at once; he saw Espio, Charmy, a couple of mugs on the table, the rest of the kitchen condiments and what looked like a pile of very recently washed dishes on the draining board without really taking any of it in. Before he could refocus and prioritise himself, the crocodile felt someone brush past him and heard Mighty's voice – allowing himself to focus on that, he was able to reassert his grip on proceedings as the armadillo spoke up, a brave stab at conversation in the frigid atmosphere,

"So", swinging her arms around almost idly, Might seized on the first thing that came to mind, "get the washing done okay?"

It wasn't much, in fact as the armadillo would freely admit later it was next to nothing, but her first lame line had one very important effect in the grand scheme of things; it brought a small, nervous but ultimately priceless snigger out of Charmy as the bee shook his head at her,

"Only you shelly", the armadillo pursed her lips, not quite allowing him to get away with that name despite the grim circumstances, "only you – but to answer your question yes, the washing went well".

"How's your arm?" As the bee harangued his friend, Espio had turned to the other reptile present and, noticing the bandage wrapped around his forearm with a horrible twisting sensation in her guts, sought a little reassurance. Vector didn't appear to notice her query at first; in fact she was on the verge of speaking up again when he turned in his direction and shrugged, trying to sound off-hand,

"It'll 'eal", he remarked nonchalantly, seeing but not allowing himself to acknowledge the sudden flare in the chameleons' eyes as he stumped over to the side of the table heavily and pulled himself out a chair, "bu' I'm no' concerned wi'it now. Wha' I am thinkin' 'bout though…"

"I can guess", Espio cut him off in the same numb voice, not meeting or unable to quite meet his eye as he sat down; _hang on_; though he didn't let his eyes linger the crocodile was able to take in her generally paler colour than normal and the way her fingers shook a little as they played around the cup she clasped; _does this mean I did it – we did enough after all? Good_; right now the memory was too fresh – thinking about it hurt almost as much as the act itself had and he was loathe to put himself through that much pain again; _even though – sorry to do this Esp, but we need to know what we're dealing with now and if that was what it took to break through to you_; the knowledge that he had done the right thing was medicine better than anything the pharmacy at the hospital had been able to dole out to him, easing the pain of his slashes to little more than an irritating twinge; _then it was worth it – painful, but worth it._ Even as such thoughts occupied his mind, he watched on unmoving as the chameleon quietly but effectively broke up the brewing argument between the bee and the armadillo and quietly waved Mighty towards a seat. Sensing the mood turning sombre, the armadillo moved to take her place at the table again as Espio, still paler and more ill-looking than Vector remembered her being at any time before now, spoke to them all again, her voice trudging over the words as she wasn't quite able to look any of them in the face,

"I, I am sorry", the apology alone was painful enough for her but it was necessary – she knew that, had known it from the first second after her arm had turned green and she'd ended up in a huddled heap on the bathroom floor again; the others had to know she felt remorse for her misguided actions before they could hear the reasons behind such reckless decisions, "for everything I've done up until now, even before you were here Mighty; there is nothing more I can do than apologise".

There was silence in the kitchen as all present took in those words; an apology from the chameleon was a rare thing indeed, surpassed in scarcity only by the times she actually did something for someone without expecting payment or any sort of favour back for doing it. While the two who had known her longest stared either forwards or into space in outright wonderment at this upfront declaration, it was the member of the Chaotix with the least experience with her chameleonic team mate who spoke up in answer to her desperate plea for clemency,

"Whatever it is you've done", Mighty's voice was cold but not altogether unkind as she fixed the chameleon with a hard stare, "and there's been enough of it that I know about, isn't really the issue now Espio. If you're serious about what you're saying, if your tears really meant anything when you tried to stop Vector…"

"I know", the reptile cut across her, but not in her usual sharp, sour tone; rather than a rapier point, this was a slow axe-blade diverting the armadillo off-course, "and I'll start, because I have to start really, with what I've already told Charmy. My name", she looked up for the first time, exposing her almost-red eyes, the capillaries around her irises engorged from her copious weeping, "it's not Espio – I've been covering that up as well. I just got so used to going by a false name that, in the end", she shrugged, apparently not even noticing the impact her words where having, the look of stunned disbelief that was now plastered on Vectors' face as the same bombshell that had blasted into Charmy now burst in his cranium, "it just sort of took over. But it can't any more; I, we, can't go on like this", she took a breath, a sudden tightness in her chest as she began to pick her way slowly through the ruined debris of her previous life to glean this, the first of many such nuggets of information she would have to reveal before the whole grisly tale could be exhumed, a rotten, rank corpse they would now have to pick over because, finally, she hadn't been able to run any more; someone had brought her to ground and forced her too see what was happening to the others around her, the damage she was unknowingly doing. Because of that fact, the realisation that she could not, in fact would not, harm the Mobians who were proud to call her friends any more, the chameleon who had hidden behind the pseudonym of Espio for so long fortified herself and let a word pass her lips that had not been uttered in the better part of a decade,

"So, my name's not Espio; it's Esprana, Esprana Chameleon".

"Nice name"; the words were out before he could check them and he cringed, blushing beet-red; Charmy couldn't so much as sense the eyes of the others on him, he could _feel _them, the hairs on his back waggling desperately to try and hide from the flaying glares sent his way by Mighty and especially Vector. By a miracle however, Espio, or Esprana as she'd just rechristened herself, seemed not to mind – indeed she even went so far as to sent a fleeting smile his way before looking away, staring into the middle distance as she spoke again,

"Yes, I thought it was a good name as well, but", her hands shook again, the little liquid left within the cup sloshing around more violently as a tremor tore though her, the results of digging into territory she'd sworn long ago never to disturb in her memory surfacing as she gasped both for air and to speak, "but, that was before, before…"

"Before what, Esprana?" Mighty queried quietly, taking care to pronounce the unfamiliar name properly as she did so; the chameleon glanced at her for a moment, auburn meeting green across the table and the former managing to draw a little strength from the latter, enough to speak what had almost been beyond her a moment ago,

"…before, I promised never to use it again; I gave it up, became Espio instead".

No-one said anything at this – by some silent communion all three of the team instinctively knew now was a time to keep quiet and let Esprana speak in her own time. They sat, stony-faced and still, as the chameleon managed to still her fingers long enough to take a small sip of the now-lukewarm tea Charmy had made before the others had arrived, breathe in and out raggedly for a moment and then, after a short pause with her eyes closed, speak again, her voice still flat and ringing hollowly,

"I, when I was younger; it was happy I suppose – mum and dad were just two normal people and I was their daughter, cosy little family, just the same as everyone else. I don't want to name them though; my parents, I don't want to", and she didn't – even thinking about them was agony, trying to phrase their names again after so long being buried away would have been acid in the already burning wound, "I should just let them rest in peace".

"I knew they were gone", Vector murmured from his corner as much to himself as to the others, explaining gently as Espio turned in her seat to look at him, idly questioning how he'd come by such knowledge, "ya told me once, only time I asked". _Yes, I remember now_; and she did; Vector had been younger then, less experienced in what ground was safe to tread around her and she had snapped back at his ill-timed question with a caustic, heart-ending reply; _'they're dead, good riddance_'_ – if only that were true, or at least_; seeing again, forced to see again what fate had arranged against her so early in life, she had to face up to another bitter truth; _completely true_;

"My father is; as for my mother, well I think, and I still think, that it might have been better if she'd have gone with him – she never got over him dying, the way he went…"

She got no further for a moment; tears overcame her and she could not resist them any longer; how long had she sat up with the babysitter that night before the big man dressed in dark blue and fluorescent yellow had knocked on the door, and had it been the young little dog girl who'd been with her or the older, slightly more worldly-wise human who used words she knew her mother would never have approved of if he saw his team falter whenever a football match was shown on terrestrial who had accompanied her in the large car with the flashing lights? How many friends; yes, she had been blessed with friends then, though now all that were left in her memories of them were smeared, fuzzy faces that she couldn't decipher; how many of them had she stayed with, not quite understanding what had happened or why her parents couldn't see her now, that they were away on 'very serious business'? Why had her friend's parents, who were if anything even less defined after the passage of time had eroded them so well, spoken so brightly to her, yet muttered in language bleak and dark when behind closed doors? A month, maybe slightly longer was as far as she could remember – an never-ending game of ping-pong between houses and faces that she had no choice but to play even if the fun had quickly drained out of it when she had realised that she couldn't go home any time she wanted, that her parents couldn't come and pick her up, whisk her away to the life she wanted back. Without realising it she was drying her eyes, something soft and fluffy thrust into it softly while the power of memories so long buried finally erupting overwhelmed her completely; for several long minutes, all she did was cry, and all the rest of the Chaotix did was wait for her to finish.

XXX

This was hell.

No, in fact it wasn't hell, it couldn't be; if this dark and suddenly frigid kitchen had truly been the place of damnation awaiting sinners after death, surely he would have been the one suffering – it wouldn't have been someone else he cared for so deeply destroyed before his eyes. Charmy would have given anything, all the honey in the world, all the sugar in China, even his own damned stinger, to ease the sobbing in front of him and that feeling, the hateful knowledge of utter powerlessness in the face of something so vast and potent, was the worst torture of all. More to distract himself than anything else the bee sneaked a glance around the table; Mighty had her eyes fixed firmly ahead of her, only a detailed inspection of her face and the way her fists were clenched betraying the tension running all through her body, but Vector on the other hand was a different – out of all of them he looked by far the calmest despite the tears trickling slowly down his face, impacting on the same floor that his blood had recently splashed down upon,

"Okay Esp", his voice as well; somehow that remained passive, maybe even pleasant, as he spoke up, the chameleon eventually looking up at him, pawing at her face one last time with the dishcloth Mighty had snagged off the oven door and thrust into her hand just as this most recent squall had blown up, "yer pa, y'said 'e'd left; wha'bout yer mum? An', if it's 'portant, ow'd it 'appen?" For a moment the crocodile was resigned to only getting one answer for the duo of questions he'd presented her with but as she drew in one last heavy sniff, it seemed the chameleon was still made of stern stuff as she spoke again, her voice a little before but the tone and inflection unchanged from a dead monotone,

"It was, was very sudden; I never found out until much, years later, after…it happened", a deep, rattling breath was drawn down into her chest as she realised she was trying to stave off the moment; _I can't not any more – all I'll do is prolong this_; "he, he had some sort of seizure, while they were out for the night; he was driving, he never drank anything. It, it wasn't his fault", for maybe the first time Esprana said those words, defending her deceased parent in a way she never had before – finally there was defiance in her voice and a glimmer of fierce pride in her eye as she saw behind her tear-stained vision the old accident report form, hidden with other old, priceless documents within the old folder under her mothers' bed, swept away and left to gather dust as though they'd never existed, "he couldn't control what he was doing. He crashed, badly, all in the restaurant car park – I, think he died on scene, and so did my mother".

Despite the fact that this contradicted her earlier words none of the others pointed out such a discrepancy – instinctively, all the others realised this was the chameleons' tale and she had to be the one to tell it in whatever form she chose. Swallowing her breath and drying her eyes again, Esprana continued,

"She never came back the same; I don't, can't remember how long she was in hospital but when she came back she was never the same. She was alive but, but she wasn't to me", not aware of how little she was making the chameleon tried to explain it, standing in the shoes of a confused little girl, brought home at last and welcomed with, not a mother's grateful arms but the cold, unsettling smile of a stranger in her parents' skin, "she wasn't alive; she was just hanging on, day to day – she cooked and cleaned, she dropped me up at school but, but that was all, it was like she existed, she didn't love anymore".

"Not even you?" At Espios' heart-wrenching sob and nod; _Esprana_; Mighty hammered the name into her brain over and over again – messing up even a point as small as that one could be fatal at a time as crucial at this; _her name is Esprana now – she was not and will never be Espio again. Now, get to the point_; putting the issue of names to the back of her mind for now, the armadillo found herself nodding, someone else from her very recent past superimposed over the more familiar form of her team mate,

"I know Esprana", she spoke slowly and clearly as though reassuring a child, "what you're saying sounds like a story from my family, one I only learned at the reunion this year. My aunt and uncle, well one set of them anyway, adopted recently…"

"G, good", even through a constricted throat and nose full of water Espio had enough sense of mind to grab any crumbs of comfort that came her way, "I'm glad, glad for them". _There's hope for you yet Esp_; what felt like warm fire licked the inner walls of Mighty's heart – she felt herself get a little choked up herself as the magnitude of those simple words crashed down on her; _if you can still see something as important as a child getting a home, despite the other problems it causes, as a good thing, you're never going to be lost_;

"Thank you", she spoke almost before even she realised it, her voice staying calm by nothing more than good fortune as she continued her story, "but the thing is, just when all the legal jibber-jabber was finally dying down one of them, my uncle Kerry, he found out he had cancer", she heard shocked gasps from all around her and forged ahead desperately; she couldn't afford to get bogged down in sorrow now, they all had to hear the message she was trying to impart before it was too late, "but it's gone now, all beaten off and he's well into remission, tough old git that he is. But for what you were saying Esp", she favoured the chameleon with a benign smile, all their former animosity wiped away as though it had never been, "their new girl, Mina her name is, prettiest little button you've ever seen and they're bloody lucky to have her, but she said to me it was like you said at times. Kirsten, my aunt, she missed him so much when he was in hospital, Mina said she sometimes used to do just that, switch off and forget everything else, even her lovely new daughter. The grief, I just can't image what an absolute bitch it must have been to deal with, and that was only for someone who was ill – for someone who'd…gone, like that…" She shuddered, both unable and unwilling to even contemplate the thought of anyone close to her, least of all one particular feline who was the closest of all, just suddenly not being there at all – it was a fear to rival that of her own mortality itself.

"My mother", Esprana continued after a short pause, her voice coming slightly back to life now, energised by nothing more than sheer pain and trauma; she had to fight hard to keep her words legible as she spoke once more, "she couldn't, she didn't handle it. I mean, to the rest of the world she was, or she seemed…I don't know"; _I must sound like a sodding idiot_; the frustration boiled over inside her as her ears inadvertently how garbled her explanations were; _I'm trying to spit this out and instead, all I'm doing is…_;

"Neither do we Esp", nothing but the sound of that voice could have made the chameleon raised her head; she hadn't even realised she'd dropped it to scrutinise her lap once more – blinking back tears again, she saw Charmy regarding her with an expression that fell somewhere between gently stern and outright heartbroken for her sake, "none of us know and as far as I'm concerned that makes us the luckiest trio in the world. I never lost a parent and I'm bloody grateful for that, not that I show it all that often I admit", he added, almost abashed as Esprana felt her jaw almost drop; _I, I almost smiled! How – when I'm saying this, how can he make me smile?_; it was a question she had no time to ponder however, for the bee carried on where he'd left off almost as naturally as breathing,

"But as for not knowing, you aren't alone in that. You said it yourself, you where what, seven at the time? Eight? Who'd know anything about that sort of thing at that age – Christ I'm meant to be an adult now and I'm first to say it; I know absolutely jack-all about things like that. Take your time", his tone suddenly solidified, a finger held up to warn his friend about the dangers of rushing in headlong, "we've got plenty here Esp; you just do whatever it is you need to do as long as you get this out of you".

"And I will", the chameleon mumbled before speaking up again; the last comment had been to herself as much to the others, another promise she'd made that she would not break, not this time, "but mum, don't blame her for what happened, she couldn't control it, not really", she took another breath and plunged on, already feeling the coldness that had seeped up through her all those years ago break over her head again all at once; it was like being dunked headlong in a pit of frozen nitrogen, "I think she, in fact I know now she was depressed, seriously depressed, ever since dad died; some days, her bad days, she wouldn't get out of bed even, I had to do everything, get washed, dressed and to school. But then, when that passed", once more she felt that same confusion that had messed with her mind as she'd grown up; her mother had gone into the hospital whole but had come out as two different people, taking it in turns to share the same body – too young to understand, she had simply been left to pick up the pieces, a lost and scared little girl not able to reconcile herself with the scary, strange figure who sometimes appeared from behind her mothers' visage, "she'd apologise and that, those times were the worst. She cried, seriously; I'd never seen her do that before, it hurt so much and I'd forgive her, how could I do anything else?" She shrugged almost desperately and seeing that gesture Mighty answered, the words coming to her without the aid of her mind having a conscious input; the psyche of the female telling the chameleon what she needed to hear,

"You couldn't", the armadillo said in a soothing voice, "there was nothing else you could do. You were very young to have to deal with something like that – you did very well to cope with your mother the way she was".

"But it wasn't enough", Esprana murmured, her tone curdling into acidic spite, "nothing I did ever made it better, not properly. She'd be fine for a few days, then it'd all go downhill again – I could tell, I could always see when the black mood was coming, then she'd finally break through it and we'd both end up bawling together, then she'd be fine again, it never ended, never stopped. She couldn't work either; how could she, always getting down so deep she couldn't even drag herself out of bed at least one day a fortnight, so we never had any cash. And I", this was the worst part, the admission she had so vehemently denied to herself now brought out into the open, "I, it changed me too".

"Of course it did…"

"But it shouldn't have", the chameleon shouted, anger at herself spilling over and causing her to lash out at the innocent party who'd tried to aid her this time, "she was my mother, my _mother_, and I, eventually, I stopped giving a damn! I just gave up on her, stopped getting the things done that she couldn't when she was suffering, just let it all go to hell so when she did recover, she had to do it all – after I was about ten we barely spoke, we were two separate people leading two totally different lives under the same roof. We weren't even mother and daughter any more, we just, we were just…there, together, and I", hot tears burned her cheeks again but she couldn't let them stop her, not after she'd come all this way so far, "I started hating it; I started blaming her for all this".

"But", ignoring the previous outburst Charmy tried again to get his point across, "that's not your fault, it's not anyones'; you'd had all this dumped on you and, well", there was a gruff snort of laughter as he sized up the sheer scale of the insurmountable task she'd been faced with, "how could anyone, let alone someone who'd only just made it to double-digit age, deal with that?"

"I don't know, I certainly didn't know", the almost lifeless chameleon answered, her head lolling around on her neck to look over at the bee as she didn't have the strength to raise it any more, "not at the time anyway. I, I think, more than anything I resented it, resented all the excuses, the lies I had to tell as to why she wasn't around, saying she was ill or under the weather when she was really just sobbing her heart out under the blankets. It, it sort of…no, it didn't sort of, it did change me – I starting getting…harder, is that the right word?" Mighty nodded, having to fight harder than she would have liked just to keep her voice audible, never mind steady,

"That or something like it", the armadillo interjected, restraining herself for reaching forwards, touching the chameleon's nearest hand in a gesture of support in case the ninja misread the signals, "I understand though Espi-rana"; _that was close_; thanking any lucky star that might have been orbiting nearby that her team mate hadn't noticed her slip of the tongue, she pressed onwards, "you had to grow up far too fast; hanging around on street corners, scuffing trainers of the pavement with a few mates, you lost all that when you lost your dad". Slowly and with several snuffling noises, the frill that encased the back of the reptiles' head ascended an inch, then lowered again,

"Yes, and I took it out on her, on mum", looking up once more, her vision glossy with tears as she remembered the hateful phrases she'd preached at someone who'd already taken far too much, kicking someone who was probably never going to rise from the floor again, "I said, terrible things, absolutely horrid; said she was useless, worse than all the other mums I ever saw, I think I…" she almost backed out of the last statement but forced herself onwards; she had burst this boil in the back of her mind, now she would see all the poison drained from it no matter how rank it was to her memory or her sensibilities, "…I think one time I said I wished it had b,been her at the wheel, not dad. I tipped her over the edge; him dying might have seriously damaged her, but it was me, and only me, who did it; my first victim", once more her eyes dropped down, focussing on her own wrist with such intensity it seemed her gaze could slit straight through the scales and avenge the mother she had so callously abused, "was the one person in the world who needed me, and I just pushed her away, something I never got out of".

"That's not true!"

Charmy's voice suddenly materialised in his throat and without a second thought he used it, everyone else jumping at the booming tone after so long conversing in hushed whispers and weeping sobs; the bee was on his feet and pointing directly across the table, the point of his finger quivering slightly but nevertheless locked onto Esprana like a compass needle pointing north,

"You, do not ever let me hear you say that again", he virtually snarled, white-faced in rage, "you do not push all the time Espio, or Esprana if you prefer – if you did the Chaotix would never have existed in the first place. When I needed you you were there; you might have forgotten but I haven't".

"Charm", she smiled at the reminder, an expression as sick as she felt with herself at the minute, having told the first half of her tale of woe and already praying she'd have strength enough to see it through to the end, "I was there for you once – for this though, I'm talking years, years and years of…"

"Of trying to see a way through a hopeless situation", he finished for her, tone brooking no argument as it crushed all resistance before it, "Christ I wouldn't have lasted half that long, if even that. Now most people say I'm a cheerful guy even at the worst of time and I don't know, maybe it's true, but take it from me that from what I've heard, you holding it together, on your own while I've that this lot", his hands took in Mighty on one side and Vector on the other, "helping me bail out the boat when we've come close to going under – you worked a sodding _miracle_".

_There_; panting after making such a draining impromptu speech Charmy looked over the table with a note of triumph in his eyes, matched by a latent challenge there; _I'd like to see you snap back on that one._ For an all-too-brief instant he supped from the wine of victory, only to feel the cup dashed from his lips as the chameleon spoke again,

"Even if I did though", her monotone was weary but unending, a pilgrim who'd journeyed too long with his cross but was unable to rest, even for an instant, until he had reached his destination, "if I made a miracle happen, I was the one who broke it. It was me, couldn't have been anyone else because no-one else was there, who drove her to drinking and…and other things".

XXX

The dull ache that had started once more in her stomach began again but she forced herself to ignore it; right now she had more important things to focus on, making sure she got to the end of her story the first of these primary goals as she saw her words impact on the others at the table,

"It got…worse", she went along with the first word that came even vaguely close, "I know what happened now, isn't hindsight always perfect? She was in a cycle, a vicious cycle of depression and, and because of me and everything else, she got sucked under. I started coming home and finding m,messes; bottles and spilt glasses and that was the worst, she was always so house-proud – now we were living in squalor. She wanted, she must have wanted to, to join dad and I", she swallowed hard, the truth as always harder to admit than any sort of lie could ever be, "I kept saying I wanted her to. When I should have been there for her to lean on, I just buckled and she kept slipping – I dun, don't even know if she's still alive now, if she ever got help; I, we", she pointed out Vector with a trembling hand, the crocodile still sat stoically in his seat as she finished, "we left while she was still going – God I wish I'd kept something, a number, just to see".

"And if wishes were little fishes there'd be no room in the sea", Mighty broke in suddenly, her interjection neatly veering the conversation away from the treacherous ground of agonising regrets and false hopes and back towards the promised land of truth, "you can't change what's happened Esp, and for the record I agree with Charmy; you did work a piece of bloody magic to keep it together that long; but you can change what happens next. We'll help you change it, you know that, but…"

"I know", the chameleon cut her off mournfully; _know what – that we'll help her or that we have to know the truth first before we can do that?_; it was a moot point that the armadillo didn't press as it seemed her team mate was ready to speak again, "but there was worse, worse than the drinking; she wanted to forget everything I can understand that, but the men she brought back with her, usually after she'd been drinking all day and night", as a few of those unsavoury characters sauntered past her vision she felt herself shudder, though occasionally one among the macabre congregation wore a smiling face rather than a snarling mask, "those I can understand, but, but I couldn't live with. Bad enough dad was dead, now this"; anger was her font of strength again – once more childish indignation erupted and the same arguments that had rattled around her pre-pubescent mind now exploded onto the scene again, "now she was trying to replace him with someone who'd never be fit to lick his boots? I hated everything else but I despised this, this more than anything else. There were so many", how many nights had she lain awake, sick with worry for the sake of her parent only to roll over and bury her head in the pillows in disgust as the key turned in the lock and two, not one, voice floated up drunkenly from the front door, "I never counted, never could, but I, in the end I, lost it – something snapped I'd had enough. I got up one night, threw everything away, I marched out my room and stood up to them, mum and whoever-it-was she'd dragged home with her from the pub; I never even knew his name".

It must have sounded absurd; it certainly did to her – a little girl in nightclothes lecturing a pair of adults, inebriated adults it was true but adults nonetheless, about proper behaviour in the home. It was such a humorous picture in her mind she almost laughed now, but to her there was nothing funny in those circumstances again, in fact just thinking about them made her feel nauseous even now. Before the sickness spread any further she carried on; she was past the point of no return, knew she could never again go as far as this – it was either follow through to the finish or turn back now and never return; _and right now, after all this_; she glanced down at the floor again, phantoms in her mind making parts of the lino stand out covered in red droplets; _I can not go back_;

"I, that's, I mean – didn't work", this time she did snigger, a cold, unimpressed sound as she chided herself for her own impetuousness in her younger days, "he, whoever he was, drunk too much, didn't listen. He said, nasty things, can't remember them", that much was at least true – in truth all she could remember was the sensations of pain as he'd lain into her, alcohol overriding normal adult impulses to protect an vulnerable child and perverting them to other, more insidious devices, "got hit, he slapped me, said I was bad-mouthing a lovely woman like mum, said he'd teach me to mind my mouth. Dragged me along", an echo of the pain she'd felt tore at the back of her head, the roots of her smaller frill screaming as though they'd be ripped free of her skull as she kicked and flailed against the hallway, desperate to be free of this horrible monster, "threw me; thought I was flying, but then, then this!"

She hadn't meant to shout the last word but she did; driven past caring by her shame and overriding guilt, all unearthed tonight before an audience that had no choice but to stick with her despite how much the admissions might have sickened them, she shot to her feet so fast the rest of the Chaotix were almost propelled backwards off their chairs, Mighty in particular almost toppling to the floor as the chameleon began to change before them. Though mostly a natural phenomenon she still had some control over the miraculous ability of her skin to shift between the colours and now she called upon that gift and mastered it, forcing herself to pass beyond her normal purple to grey, that ethereal form then solidifying further to darker and darker palettes until, finally she was as black as ebony, a sliver of midnight against the far wall of the kitchen. Aware of the others watching on she pirouetted slowly on the spot, fingers of her left hand travelling down almost to her hip, pulling back the scales there, revealing a small patchwork of almost invisible white lines, carved like lightning strikes against the background her scales had become, the scar tissue now and forever unable to change as the rest of her could,

"Landed, hit, in the bathroom", she carried on, her eyes closed shut as though not seeing in the physical sense could also blind her memory, "we had a big mirror in there, full-length; hit it, smashed part of it, cut myself when he came in after me, saw me – hit me again when I picked one of the shards up, laughed – 'little girls shouldn't play with knives'", those words she remembered, carved on her soul as clearly as she scars she bore now would remain engraved on her very flesh for all time; aware she was seconds from total disintegration she had to press on, losing perspicacity in the now-desperate need for speed,

"Went numb, I couldn't feel anything, got hit too much. Said other things, then, then…"

She could go no further, the way she felt her body distractedly folding in on herself, the way her legs pressed themselves together, her tail curled up to try and protect herself, must surely have been enough to give the watchers the message of what had happened, the message reinforced by the last word she was able to grate through the scrumming press of stifled sobs and tightly-gritted teeth,

"…hurt…"

XXX

The instant he was out of his seat was the same instant he found himself forcibly squashed back into it; the second he'd leapt upwards a crushing weight had descended onto his shoulder, bad shoulder at that, and pressed down irresistibly, buckling his legs underneath him and forcing him to sit once more. Even as he fought for his freedom Charmy sobbed but at the same time rose above his own grief; helpless and a prisoner of someone stronger than he was, the bee was reduced to watching as someone else lend the aid he was so desperate to give the disintegrating chameleon before him – her chair thrown onto its back in her haste, Mighty bounded forwards and held out her arms, catching Espios' descending form and holding on in a grip that only death, and maybe not even death, would be able to break. The chameleon squirmed for a moment, blindly fighting to try and free herself as the nightmare in her head stained the picture of the present; after a moment of such tormented thrashings however she suddenly stiffened before finally collapsing, the foetid family truths that had been concealed from the world for almost a decade released in wails so plaintive and painful it made the choirs of the damned in hell seem a church carol service by comparison,

"Shh Esp, just let it go now", still struggling for his freedom as he as despite the burning pain starting to infiltrate his shoulder from the wound that his gaoler was pressing down on relentlessly, Charmy didn't have to wonder how Mighty was able to keep her tone stable enough to break through the reptiles shield of grief enough to be heard, "don't think about it now, just do whatever it is you've got to do. You need to let this out of you; it's been inside too long".

"But…"; the answer to this single word, even muffled as it was through the armadillo's shoulder, was another drawn out whistle from the armadillo, hushing her to silence again,

"Shhhh", only when Espio was once again preoccupied with her crying did Mighty speak again, explaining her rationale at the same time as shifting her position gingerly – with the reptiles head buried in her shoulder she was being gouged by her horn somewhat, "you've said enough now Esprana, more than enough. I called you coward earlier – for that", for a second the armadillo was almost overcome with an urge to sniffle before beating back the urge vigorously; _this is in no way about me – it is all about her now, you come last_; "for that I am sorry – I had no right to do that, not after this. Come on", slowly she risked a step forwards, half-carrying, half-dragging the chameleon in her wake, talking all the time, keeping up a steady, constant flow of reassurance all the time; now more than ever the chameleon needed her friends, "what you need right now is a nights sleep; you're shaking like a leaf…this way, I'll walk you there". Unable or unwilling to resist the armadillos' gentle but persistent marching Esprana fell into step, the two of them looking like a pair of clumsy competitors in some bizarre three-legged race as they stumbled and lurched towards the hallway door with their arms wrapped tight around each other, one needing some support quite desperately, the other desperate to supply it; quite how they made it to the door was a mystery but they managed it somehow, it swung open as Mighty reached out to push it open, and then they were gone.

The silence that was left in their wake was unearthly and almost crushing in its stillness; it seemed to extend forever like the shadow of death itself but was pierced, eventually, by a piping hiss of pain – suddenly aware of himself again, Vectors' ears managed to filter out the monotone buzzing into legible words again,

"…bad arm, let go of me; dammit Vec"; _huh – oh, sorry Charmy_; the bee almost wrenched himself free as he slackened his grip a little, a task made slightly more difficult by the fact he'd had his fingers curled so tightly on the insects' shoulder he could barely feel them any more. Rubbing his crushed fur and exoskeleton, the bee glared up at his larger comrade at the same time as massage his recently released limb,

"Aw, man – Vec, you pulled the scab apart, I need a tissue", the bee looked around the kitchen for a second before collapsing completely, the enormity of what he'd just heard and deduced for himself destroying him more brutally and efficiently than Vectors hand could ever have done. His legs gave way and, back in his seat once more, he sobbed into his hands, the tears eventually mingling with the thin river of blood that trickled down his arm from the scab Vector had accidentally partially uprooted on his shoulder,

"No", it was perhaps a childish belief, the idea that is he dismissed something enough times and with enough fervour it would eventually cease to exist, but at the same time he knew it was a false idol that would never again be true, for he had left his childhood behind and emerged into the harsh, unblinking stare of the adult world, "no…no…how…how could anyone…?"

"Sum men're bastards Charm", a voice counselled him, a dry, almost dead crackle that lacked the crocodiles' normal vitality completely, "they'an dress it up as bein' under the 'fluence, bu'the truth is they're still bastards, an' they'll alwa's be tha'. Try no'ta think 'bout it too much though, 'cause righ' now wha's 'appened don' matter". Nothing but those words, or at least words in that vein, could have made the bee quit his tears; mouth agape, he looked again at the crocodile as though seeing him for the first time, revolted by the seemingly heartless attitude he was displaying,

"How can you say that?" Blinking quickly to try and bring the picture into focus through his blurred vision Charmy repeated himself, genuinely at a loss to understand the crocodiles' train of thought in this case, "How can you possibly even think that – Vector whoever this bastard was, what he's done's…"

It was at that point that the bee finally dashed the last of his tears from his eyes and was able to see clearly; a split-second after he was able to do so he fell silent before the brooding power of the colossus before him, the barely-restrained violence that radiated from the seated crocodile washing over him like a wave of magma, so hot it all but scalded him. Vector was so angry he actually looked remarkably calm, his voice likewise colourless of emotion, a showing of how hard the crocodile was having to fight the tide of bloodlust that was threatening to sweep away all self-restraint; more than once he'd said that people could taunt and injure him all they liked, but if they touched his friends he would not be held responsible for the consequences of what happened next,

"I'cun say these things Charm, 'cause I'm lookin' for'ard, not back, an' you need t'do the same really. Fact is mate, there's nuthin' I'd like t'do more'an find out 'oo this bastard was, track 'im down, rip 'is head off and shove it down 'is neck, bu' I can't 'cause I dunno the first thing 'bout 'oo 'e is or where 'e is now. An' even if I did I couldn't do any o'tha', 'cause I need t'stay 'ere jus' like you; righ' now, more'an ever 'fore, Esp needs us 'round. Tellin' us wha' 'appened's one thing, now we gotta 'elp her pull through livin' wi'it, 'cause up 'til now she 'asn't – she's just been ignorin' it".

"Yeah, yeah I guess you're right", the bee mumbled after a minute of digesting the crocodiles' rationale, though unlike Vector it was despair rather than rage he was having to fight against, "so, what do we do now, apart from sit here stewing in our own juices". The crocodile snorted gruffly, obviously seeing a joke where the bee had intended none,

"Tell ya what Charm, second either of us ge's a betta idea than that, le's figure it out then shall we? Up 'til then, we just 'ang tough an' see wha' turns up, 'ow's that fer a plan?" It was nothing like a plan of course, but maybe that was the point in a way; not able to see past the point of figurative point of his own nose, Charmy felt himself lapse into uneasy silence once again, creative methods of escaping sticky situations for once all falling flat as they saw the size of the task opposing them and knew at once they were out of their league completely.

XXX

_She's gone_; even when she was sure of the fact Mighty stayed where she was for a good few minutes afterwards, making perfectly sure in her own mind that the chameleon was asleep before moving on – to her eyes at least Esprana seemed deathly pale, her normal purple colour bleached to a watered down pink that didn't suit her in the slightest, but she was asleep now, dreaming and delivered from the horrors in her own head, monstrous memories that made even Mighty shudder at the thought of them; _how did she cover them up for so long? Was it Espio_; more than once the chameleon had made references to 'becoming' rather than simply adopting the male name; _was he able to bury all this up, make it seemed like it never happened because he was just a tough guy who never took anything from anyone? I don't know, I don't want to know_; that much at least she was certain of, and she was also certain she didn't want to think about this any more tonight – right now all she wanted to do was find a nice, cosy little bunk somewhere, drift off to sleep herself and forget tonight had ever happened. Even the cut on her shoulder was only dimly remembered now, an old, half-recalled dream with no relevance, not in the light of what they knew now; whatever pain the Chaotix had inflicted on themselves in their quest for knowledge, Esprana had suffered far, far worse and through no fault of her own. Sick to the pit of her stomach Mighty lurched to her feet and shuffled backwards towards the door, never once dropping her gaze from where her comrade in arms slumbered fitfully, for Esprana was now what Espio had never been, a living Mobian with feelings as acute, and as able to be hurt by the maliciousness and spite of others, as any other; a living, breathing, even wounded soul compared to an expressionless, passive mask. Only when the door drew shut did Mighty dare to look away, casting her gaze down at the carpet in shame at the knowledge of her failure to see what should have been obvious to her.

Only when the door drew shut did the armadillo allow herself to cry in horror at the crime that had taken place so long ago, the maiming of an innocence that had never deserved such an evil fate to befall it.

XXX

Heavy, stumbling footsteps alerted the pair of them; Mighty came into the kitchen as they glanced up, her stride a short, labouring trudge as she pushed the door shut behind her. After it clicked into place she fell against it softly, almost as if her legs suddenly lacked the strength a quirk of her species ancestry had granted her for life; as she began to slide down it she turned around, her face almost white as once hand suddenly nestled against her clammy forehead, wiping away the sweat that such a horror had broken on her brow,

"It's okay", she spoke without realising she was doing so, talking to her own knees as she couldn't bring herself to raise her head at all, "she's out cold, won't be getting up 'til next morning if I'm any judge". The pressure in the room seemed to blow out with a noise as piercing as a steam whistle but still the armadillo couldn't bring herself to react to it; her mind was focussed inwards, pointing out with glaring clarity all the chances she'd had to see this already, all the gaps Espio had left, glimpses of Esprana behind the veil she'd cast over herself that she should had picked up on, each new admission stoking a slow, sleeping ember in her breast, one that was flickering malevolently back to life as a new voice rumbled in the air around her,

"Good, nice work Might", a chair squeaked backwards, Vector standing up for the first time, the crocodile too wrung out by it all to care much beyond surviving the night now, "I say we take a leaf outta 'er book; we're all shattered an' nuthin' else productive'll come outta t'night. C'mon mate", he must have been talking to Charmy but she barely heard him over the low buzzing in her ears, the new anger resonating through her entire being as she realised just how badly she'd let everyone down, "le's get our 'eads down".

"Head down", Mighty found herself parroting dully, though her voice came back to life as the ashes suddenly sprang back to life again, power from rage in her body once more, "yeah, nice one Vec, couldn't have said it better myself – head down and eyes shut, that's me".

"Mighty", it was Charmy speaking, the bees' tone questioning whilst still remaining studiously neutral as he questioned, "I'm not sure…"

"No, you're not Charm; you had no reason to be. Me, on the other hand", she laughed, an ugly sound as she finally fought to come back to her feet, "now I've got no excuse; a bloody five year old could have figured it out but oh no, good ol' Michelle here just does what she always does – head down and charge, never mind opening your eyes and observing the sodding obvious!"

"Might, what th' 'ell are you…?"

"I'm saying", she almost shouted before forcibly keeping the noise down; compounding her error by waking Esprana up with her racket would only make matters a hundred times worse; frustrated beyond words she clenched her fists up into her face, pressing her knuckles into her scrunched-shut eyes, almost glorying in the pain such an action caused as it was nothing less than she deserved, "I'm saying I'm as blind as a…as they come; this, this whole thing should have been right in front of me but it wasn't…", suddenly she flung her fists down, the other two jumping back as they saw the thunderous look on her face as she could keep her murderous urges in check no longer; seeing the first potential target in front of her the armadillo leapt at it with a snarl, letting her fist fly directly down on her target.

The chair didn't break, it didn't even splinter; under the phenomenal force of Mighty's fist it was reduced instantly to sawdust. As the rest of the Chaotix watched on agape she stared at the wreckage she'd made, embracing the dull ache in her fingers as she growled her last words, the pain so much easier to cope with than the awful guilt knowledge that she'd let everyone down so badly,

"…I should have seen this coming, and I should have put a stop to it long before now".

She sought refuge in the pain she'd caused herself, her heartbeat thrumming in the bruised flesh along her fingers where she'd struck down on the back of the chair. It was such a relief to drown out her own inadequacy that she almost closed her eyes in a sense of ecstasy – two rough hands grabbed her shoulders and she almost screamed, lashing out reflexively and breaking free of the violating grip, glaring down at the perpetrator as though hardly believing he could be so bold as to touch her. For his part Vector merely matched her gaze, rubbing his arm where a lucky strike of hers had winged him, speaking as he did so with twin notes of reproach and resolution in his voice,

"Now you don't", he stated firmly, "ya told me not ta blame meself fer this mess, now I'm tellin' ya th' same thing; don' go blamin' yerself, no way y'could 'ave seen this comin'".

"You don't understand Vec"; _you never will, and if you could you'd never forgive me either_; "I'm a woman, same as Esp is – I should have known there was something, and I mean something big, gnawing at her to force something like Espio to the surface". Realising he was likely to make little headway against her stubborn obstinence and in all honesty too tired to care much at this stage the crocodile simply raised his arm wearily, calling a temporary ceasefire in this most recent pitched battle,

"Wha'ever, bu' I still think yer wrong. Either way", he added hastily, seeing her draw in a breath to argue her case again, "wha' we think ain't worth diddly now; what matters is wha' we do 'bout…" He pointed upwards and Mighty understood immediately; in fact not only did she understand, she also knew the answer, or at least, part of the answer,

"We have to help her of course"; _well that's all right then_; the malicious gremlin in her mind piped up again, goading her lack of knowledge on matters such as this; _but, question is, what can you possibly do about it – come on, I'm all ears…_;

Perhaps fortunately it was a question she never had to answer; with a soft flump something large and squashy landed between the two Mobians facing off against each other; both looked down at the misshapen lump before looking up at where the droning sound was coming from – Charmy was hovering in front of the airing cupboard, obviously fighting to disentangle another such object from the confines of the ironing pile. Finally emerging triumphant in his tussle, the bee swung about to regard them both, hefting his prize and pointing at the one laid flat at the feet of his team mates,

"Well", he shifted his finger, now pointing upwards in the manner Vector had so recently affected, "this is one way I think we can help; give me a hand someone", without further explanation he turned back to the closet above the boiler, "there's another one in here but I can't reach it – someone hold up the ironing pile so I don't get buried when I pull it out will they?"

XXX

Wakefulness came to her in a jumbled rush; thousands of visions tumbled over one-another in their haste to be let free; what she had said and what conclusions may have been drawn from such admissions she did not know, did not want to know. With a sensation not unlike swallowing a brick of lead Esprana huddled down deeper in her blankets, shivering despite herself as once more she felt the same violation again; the fact that the others knew the truth now was both a blessing and a curse. What had once been taboo could never again be kept secret, she couldn't take back what had been said, but at the same time, was it possible that the others could somehow help her in this? The fact that she hadn't been strong enough to do it on her own, the only path she'd known for years, was still a cancerous blight to her, but could there be a cure for this cancer, therapy rather than simple, brutal excision the answer? _I don't know_; and her lack of knowledge was completely understandable – never before, not since the night she had so horrifyingly described in fact, had she ever dared confide in another living soul so this really was a leap into the unknown; she couldn't exactly say a leap of faith as she no longer had anything to believe it. Under the comforting cocoon of her blanket however, she gradually let her breathing still and…; _wait, what's that noise?_ Immediately she caught her breath, bunching down a little further under the covers as she tried to assimilate and identify the source of the strangle, snuffling wheezes perched irritatingly just out of easy recognition. After a second of thinking she carefully rolled around under the blanket, taut and ready for anything as she slowly lowered them, blinking to let her eyes adjust to the darkness in her bedroom, taking in the surroundings and looking down at the floor, where most of the noise was coming from.

The brick that had so recently dropped into her stomach now leapt upwards, jamming into her throat; she couldn't breathe, she couldn't even think for a minute – all she was capable of doing was just looking, observing the scene before her as her fists gripped the blanket at her chin so tightly her knuckles went white as chalk. Luckily her shock was so deep she couldn't cry and for this, she reasoned later when she was able to think about the whole scenario, was probably a good thing; her noisily weeping buckets would probably have shattered the scene before her forever by waking one of the others up.

Lying prostrate and haphazardly on the floor, wrapped up tightly in sleeping bags, were the rest of the Chaotix, all curled up around one another as they'd obviously tried to make themselves comfortable in the cramped conditions. Vector was laid on his back with his knees bent upwards, the space forming a little hollow against the wall where Mighty had planted herself, the strength of her inflexible shell a comfortable buffer between herself and both the floor and the crocodile's shins. She could only see the bottom half of Charmy, though the snores droning out from under her desk told her in no uncertain terms the rest of him was still attached, the bee still out stone-cold, just like the rest of the team. Open-mouthed the chameleon could only take in the sight; _what the…why are they all just lying here like this?! Haven't they got beds of their own – oh, yes_; as it began to make sense again she found herself having to bite back the sniffles worse than ever before; _they have got somewhere else, but they didn't go there. They stayed here, with me_; the depth of her overwhelming gratitude was matched only by the spires of her shame as her thought concluded in the only way it could; _just like I wouldn't have ever considered doing for any of them. It's not fair – not fair on them having to do this for me, not fair that I never say anything about it – well that stops, here and now_; something inside was solidifying, a cold, hard core around which other things, perhaps more agreeable in the long run, could be built was taking shape; all else would have to wait but now the most important thing was the main structure was taking shape, its foundations growing harder and firmer with every new thought the chameleon had; _I don't run from them any more, I don't cut them down any more, I start pulling my weight from here on in, and I don't mean just physical work either. And it starts now – well, almost_; with that certainty in mind and a slight, almost embarrassed smile on her lips, Esprana sat up in bed, the blanket in her lap but making no sound as she watched the other three Mobians sleeping; after all they had done for her up until now, the least she could do, she reasoned, was let them enjoy their sleep; _it'll start when this rabble start getting heads off rocks and on with socks._

XXX

_Urrrmmm – huh?_; that was strange – he didn't remember the bedroom normally being that dark first thing in the morning, even in the winter time, and how had the headboard suddenly grown over and engulfed the space above his head like that?; _urgh, too early in the morning to do any thinking_. That much was certainly true; bringing his hands up to massage the sleep from his eyes and barking his elbows against the wooden slats at the side of him in the process, Charmy found the early-morning ritual gently pummelling some much-needed reason back into his cognitive functions – it was odd though, he didn't remember being quite this firmly embedded underneath the writing desk despite the severe lack of room he and the others had found opposing them the previous night. Still, it wasn't something he couldn't quite easily get out of now he had the opportunity; raising his arms still further and giving a small heave, the bee pushed himself out the little cubby-hole he'd made his own and, after carefully moving aside an obstruction with his feet that turned out, he noticed as he sat up with more than a tinge of amusement, the top half of Mighty's legs, he was able to stretch out properly, sorting out his rumpled antennae with practised ease and wondering with half a mind where he could start to look for breakfast.

It was at that point, as he froze in mind-yawn, that he realised he was being watched.

He dropped his arms, the first thing that came to mind as a good idea and for a minute he and Esprana simply held each others eyes, gazes reflecting off each other until, her brain frantically trying to conjure up something to break the encroaching silence, the bee dropped his head a touch and mumbled,

"Morning Esp, er, have a good kip?"

"Yeah", she said, nodding even if her eyes never shifted from him; the intensity of her stare was beginning to make him feel uncomfortable and he was on the cusp of saying something else before she just beat him to the punch, "in fact I'm grateful you're the first up Charm, not that I'm ungrateful that any of you decided to crash out here with my carcass".

"Don't say that", the bee warned her guardedly, raising a finger halfway before lowering it again, seeing it was unnecessary as the reptile smiled sadly, nodding her understanding of his words,

"Fair enough, but I'm still glad you came around first".

"Why?" He was genuinely curious this time, an emotion that did nothing but increase as her shoulders shook, a shake of the head his momentary answer,

"Because of the very simple reason that you, more than the other two", she flicked her eyes to where the other two Mobians in the room were still sprawled together, completely comatose, "I've got an apology to make to you". _Here we go then_; this hadn't been the last thing that had crossed his mind might happen this morning and, though granted it was a heck of a lot more positive than some of the reactions he'd been envisaging, it still wasn't ideal for a very simple reason that he was quick to point out to her,

"Esp, don't", he held up a hand, forestalling her even as she began to speak again, "you don't need to say anything like that to any of us, not after what we know now".

"Hmm, oh, yeah", her tone darkened despite herself as for an instant that same sense of alien invasion, the strange coldness that had invaded her once before brushed against her, making her shiver and writhe under her sheets before she mastered herself again, "that. No, it's not about that Charm"; _eh?_; that was unexpected – what was she on about in that case then? Before he could ask the question that was written so plainly on his face, however, she'd already answered it for him, the tip of her horn so low it grazed her kneecap as she offered her apology up to him,

"Sorry, for breaking your razor; last night I mean", she elaborated before she could control herself, hoping against hope that the bee's face would stop falling the more she explained herself, "it was an accident Charmy, please believe that much – even in my worst times I'd never break something that important, not after everything the others did to get it for…"

She got no further than that, the rest of her tortuous explanations dying in her throat as she finally saw past the illusion she thought she was seeing and saw what actually was; the reason for the bee's suddenly dropped face and heaving shoulders was not, as she'd so rashly supposed, due to lamentation at his loss, but rather mirth at a joke she couldn't get. This was such a bizarre turn of events, something so out of the bathtub for the chameleon, that she was transported completely beyond shock, through stunned territory and ended up completely in the realms of absolute irritation, almost outright demanding he explain his insane fit of the giggles,

"What?" She snapped the word like a command, "what is so damned funny?"

"You think…", the bee gasped before having to fall silent and recollect himself again, "…you actually think, I care about a stupid bloody razor?" _Okay_; he'd completely lost his mind, that was the only explanation she could possibly come up with; even while she was thinking on this though, her body drew back against this clearly-deranged insect, pressing her back scales up to the headboard as the bee clapped both hands to his ears, grin threatening to split his head in half as he somehow managed to speak through that manic grin,

"After all this, after everything, you think I give a toss about that – Esp, that thing is steel, wire and possibly a few inches of my facial hair", it must have been catching, she sniggered herself a little even as one of his hands slid upwards to peel back his antennae slightly, "it, hard as it might be for you to imagine this, it doesn't really matter. I can get a new one, simple as that, soon as I get a bit of breakfast I can just go waltzing into town and pick up a new one from any halfway decent electrical shop".

"But…"

"But? But! Right, that's it", now she was scared, a good kind of panic as she drew her duvet up to her chin, unable to even contemplate defending herself as the bee suddenly flopped onto his back and dragged something out from where he'd been sleeping; as she saw what it was Esprana was unable to think of a single trick to defend herself, paralysed in absolute shock, seeing in terrible slow-motion the way he sprang forwards, the sleeping bag disgorging his legs as his wings lashed the air unmercifully, propelling him and his new weapon towards the target. Only when he landed did the spell break and by then it was too late; somehow falling into a kind of hysteria, the chameleon found herself having to fall backwards and cover herself with her arms as best she could as Charmy rained down a blizzard of blows with his pillow.

His blows were soft but they were many; it was that speed, combined with the fact that she was continually having to twist and turn her head to avoid accidentally gutting the fat, down-stuffed bag with her horn, that prevented her from speaking until at least half a minute of this pummelling had ensured, the bee showing no signs of relenting any time soon,

"Charmy", she blocked his next blow before trying again, catching the tail-end of his weapon and slowing it down enough to make herself heard, "What are you…stop it – stop hitting me!"

"No", the bee shouted back venomously, wrenching the pillow free and picking up exactly where he'd left off, allowing her no respite, punctuating each of his next words with a blow, "I'm-going-to-keep-hitting-you-until-you-figure-it-out-you-great-purple-pillock!"

"Figure what out?!" She tried to wrest free a pillow of her own but was defeated in this regard; shuffling backwards as she had been she'd ended up almost sitting on her own head-covers, leaving her unable to defend herself properly or repay the bee in kind, "Charmy you're insane".

"And", he stopped, just for a fraction, just long enough for her to see the almost-maniacal gleam in his eyes, the warped smile on his lips before he continued belabouring her with swipes from this pillow, "and I _like_ it!" He said nothing more, in fact both of them were too preoccupied with their respective tasks of hitting and dodging to notice someone else was speaking until their voice rose to a low shout,

"Hey! Ah, thank you – now as I was saying", glaring up at the pair of them from where she was reclined on the floor, the natural way she rested on her back on any flat surface always reminding Charmy of a tea saucer, Mighty fixed the warring pair with a steely glare, "Charmy Bee why exactly are you beating up that chameleon; not that I have anything against the odd bit of senseless violence here and there mind". Suddenly flushed and drained of his earlier power surge the youngest of the Chaotix let his pillow drop, breathing heavily through his nose as his eyes smoke their desires through to the armadillo,

"I am beating up that chameleon, for a very good reason"; _oh is that so?_; rather than anger or confusion now Esprana listened in with an interested ear; _in that case I'm dying to hear it_; "because I've tried talking sense her, I've tried reasoning sense to her and, God help me, I've even tried acting sense to her, but she still doesn't get it so I reckon the only thing left is to beat some sense through that steel-hard frill of hers". Mighty's eyes suddenly gleamed, the way she placed one hand behind herself as through trying to gear up the momentum needed to winch herself back to her feet especially unnerving as far as Esprana was concerned,

"Now that", the armadillo said, nodding at the younger Mobian as he beamed up at her from the foot of his team mates' bed, "is one of the best ideas I've heard in ages; reckon I might have to give it a go myself". With that she flumped over, flipping onto her front and just reaching for her pillow before the defending party managed to find her voice again and lodge a protest,

"Umm, whoa, hey – will someone tell me please what's going on, and more to the point why I'm getting double-teamed by you pair". Charmy snorted, pulling his legs up underneath him, resting his chin on his pillow as he nailed her with an imperious glare,

"You're getting double-teamed, or at least will be getting double-teamed once the turtle over there finds her feet again", there was a warning growl from floor level but the bee ignored it in favour of pressing on with his lesson, "because despite all the enlightenment and worldly-wisdom crap you're supposed to have let into your mind, you really are quite astoundingly thick. The fact you seem to think I care more for a shaving razor, an inert bundle of metal, plastic and a couple of batteries with as much personality as your average Dark Legionnaire, than I do about you, a living, breathing Mobian, also with as much personality as your average Dark Legionnaire, seems to prove this hypothesis", the chameleon wasn't sure whether to feel flattered or insulted by this elliptical logic but before she could give too much thought to the matter she started; Charmy had leant forwards and taken her hands in his own, his furry arms brushing up against her naked ones as he leant in to embrace her fully. She sat stock-still, almost trembling with an emotion she couldn't describe, barely able to hold the blanket around herself as she heard the bees' last words, a whisper for none but her to hear,

"Well I don't, and I never will; God help me for being a fool but I still can't shake the idea that underneath it all, right where it matters, there's someone there worth a heck of a lot more than any razor, not mater how nice the shave".

How long the pair of them remained in this embrace she did not know; in fact it came as something of a surprise to her to realise that she was actually reciprocating his hold – that was a definite break as far as her normal conventions went. There was an irritating sniffle lodged right in her nose, one she couldn't get rid of for all the time the bee hugged her; it was only when he let go after what could have been eons that she managed to let it slip, disguised as something like a bizarre hybrid between cough and sneeze,

"Thanks", she mumbled as she blinked a hint of water from her eyes, obviously agitated by the bristles on the bees' chest, "anyway, before we go too far ahead we'd better let sleeping bags lie for a minute", as Charmy regarded her quizzically she nodded her head past him to where Vector was still sprawled out comatose, "better not wake him; TGG over there needs all the beauty sleep he can…"

"'E's already awake", a deep rumble cut her off, making all three of the others jump as a single scaled eyelid peeled backwards, allowing the orbit beneath it to focus in on and glare at the other reptile who'd been cheeking him, "'e 'eard everythin' an's got a pillow t'and too, so watch it".

"We are and it's not a pretty sight", Charmy quipped back, the leader of the team grimacing at the hit before heaving himself up to a sitting position, "anyway, what were you doing playing possum?"

"Keepin' me mouth shut an' me ears open; sommat yer've neva been gifted wi' Charm. Still, I 'gree wi' wha'ya bin sayin – Esp, just this once pay 'ttention to 'im, it'll save us all a lorra agro".

"And just this once I agree with you", she offered the other reptile, grateful when Vector had the good grace not to gloat at his vindication as she settled back down in her bed, vision trained on a point of her far wall and mind far away, "I never even told my mother, what I told you all".

At once she had them on tenterhooks, each and every Mobian there paying rapt attention as she carried on, her tone rather more relaxed than it had been the previous evening, more fatalistic and accepting of the truth she had to impart, the words flowing rather then being forced from her,

"She was passed out, never knew; I just kept it that way. I don't know why exactly, can't explain it but after that, whenever anyone else came, I just acted like I wasn't a girl. At first I hid a bit, hoped they wouldn't notice, but a couple of them were sharp-eyed and picked me out, so I started trying to kid on I was a boy; I was amazed when it actually worked. I just wanted them to leave me alone and when I pretended like that they did – it just made sense to me then – I started calling myself Espio, trying to think what I should be doing as a boy, rather than what a girl would do. I", she had to swallow a bit of a lump as once more phantom pain touched her, pain she had forced herself to believe she'd never felt at the time now haunting her again, "I threw out everything girly I had – dolls, boy posters, even m, even my little pony collection. It all went", it was no good, she had to wipe her eyes on the corner of her duvet, memories of the little plastic figures tumbling into the bin like a friends' ashes being scattered on the wind in her memory, "and I didn't get anything to replace it. Moving to high school, that helped a lot; all my other friends left, and I started to hang with you Vec", he nodded, remembering the old days as well as she could but saying nothing, letting it all come off her chest at the pace she needed to get rid of it, "there were still a few…bad, days, at home, but I ran out on them at first, then I taught myself to fight".

She smiled at that once, a dark expression as she remembered with vindictive glee that particular memory; once more a blurred face in her memory but this time it was the noise she was never going to forget, the scream of pain and frantic blubbering of a man who'd bitten off more than he could chew and ended up having his fingers broken. He'd run out the house with tears pouring from his eyes while she'd watched from the shadows of the doorway, a smirk on her lips that subsided only when she heard the alcoholic ramblings of her mother from the doorway, demanding drunkenly to know what all the commotion was about. Not aware of her surroundings for a second so deeply as she immersed in her memory, the chameleon continued in deep voice, rich with self-triumph but at the sae time woven with the very thinnest thread of regret, of a yearning for other, happier times,

"I learnt quickly, and I learnt very well; you knew how much trouble I was in at school Vec"; _that I do_; the crocodile shrugged at the question, knowing he didn't need to answer it this time around; _enough detention cards to tile a bathroom, and a couple of suspensions a term as well, though I will say most of the time you never started fights, you just ended up finishing them_; "but then, when you said, when you were leaving, I didn't want that", the thread grew thicker as she looked up again, glancing at the other reptile alone now, "I, er, I'm not sure if it's the right word but I trusted you, more than I did anyone else at any rate, and when you told us all about your plans I didn't want to get left behind. I packed up and got ready to move that night, mum never even asked, I doubt she even realised I was ever there, never mind when I left", she heaved a sigh, regretful now that she didn't know what had happened to her parent – was she still alive, and if so in what condition was she in; _I don't know if it's cruel or something to think this, but I hope she's not_; even as she finished the heinous thought she mollified her own conscience with a reasonable justification; _at least that way she'll be with dad again_;

"But, after that", she slapped the pillow at the side of her, the suddenness of the gesture making everyone jump, "well, you know the rest, or most of the rest in your case Mighty", the armadillo nodded, having been filled in on the various misadventures of the Chaotix prior to her arrival, "until now, up until this point".

"So", Charmy almost winced at how loudly his voice broke the billowing, enshrouding silence that had settled over them all, "where do we go from here then? Or where do you go, Esprana?" The chameleon smiled wanly at the use of her name, realising perhaps for the first time that this was going to be a struggle for the others as much as herself,

"I'm not sure Charm, but wherever it is I know it's going to take a long time for me to get there at least. I'm going to need help guys", having led an existence that had been almost conditioned never to ask for outside aid, Esprana was quite surprised at how easily those words slid out into the ears of the others, "and a lot of it – this is not going to be easy". There was an audible snort of mirth from somewhere, Mighty standing up a minute later and answering as she lent a hand to pull Vector to his feet,

"No, living with Espio was not easy; I'm sure this 'Esprana' character, whoever she turns out to be, can't be any worse than him", the chameleon almost blushed at the words but in the nick of time managed to control herself. In her mind this was just as well; the next person to speak was Vector himself and the way he lumbered up to the side of her repose was enough to make her shiver, mostly out of fear as he towered over her,

"I 'gree wi' Might, an' 'cause o'that I'm tellin' y'this Esp", he leant in closer and she shivered again, still lending him an ear though as she turned her head away fractionally, "she betta be easier t'live wi' than 'e was, ya got it?"

"If I haven't I'm sure you'll give it to me one of these days", she snapped back, delighted at the look of shock such a comeback plastered over the crocodiles' face before turning slightly more serious, "okay, joking aside I get where you're coming from".

"Good, good…"

The thump that landed on the side of her cocked head made her see stars for an instant; as she tried to hastily regain her bearings over the sounds of the other two Mobians laughing their socks off, Esprana whipped around to glare at the crocodile only for such an expression to wither as she saw exactly what he'd beaned her with. For his part, looking unbearably smug as he did so, Vector simply shook out the pillow he'd had hidden behind his back the whole time and winked at her,

"…tha's just so's you 'member it".

"You…!" Even as she twisted to snatch up a weapon of her own she knew it was hopeless; the thunder of departing feet was enough to tell her the rest were long gone. Sighing in annoyance at being bush-whacked like that the ninja slipped irately out of bed, though such a mask of irritation was chipped enough for someone to see, if they looked hard enough, the hint of a smile on her lips as she tucked her bed in again and then reached down to straighten out the discarded sleeping bags.

XXX

_Right, that's it – I've had enough_;

"Wake up!" Knuckles made his demand grouchily at the same time as slapping his bed partner hard between the shoulder blades; as the bat tossed and turned herself back to the land of the living he made the second part of his demand, "You've been a complete fidget all night; what the hell is on your mind?"

"Urgh, wha'?" Not quite a fan of morning time Rouge regarded the world trough bleary eyes, part of her dreaming imagination still running pell-mell from the rain of objects flung at her by a laughing, one-eyed monster, "Knucks, wha's up?"

"Me, just like I have been most of the night", he informed her in no uncertain terms, too annoyed at his lack of sleep to be charitable, "you've been wriggling around like a snake up a drain pipe, and you were like it all last night – what happened?"

"Oh, oh that"; _uh oh_; she'd been betrayed by her own dreams – now she had to think of an excuse her husband would swallow at very, very short notice, "umm, forget about it – go back to sleep". She rolled over and away from him, hoping his tiredness would be enough to dissuade him from pressing the matter; just her luck, however, Knuckles wasn't feeling in a charitable mood,

"I can't go back when I haven't actually slept yet tonight", the echidna informed her, the mattress behind her compressing down as she felt him slide up behind her, "come on, spill it".

"Zzzzz", she droned before whispering out the corner of her mouth, "can't hear you, sleeping". _Good that got him_; though she was still sleepy and that was true, her mind was working a million miles a minute trying to cover up her mistake – when she felt the echidna retreat behind her she couldn't even begin to express her gratitude, in fact she was on the verge of quietly mouthing a prayer of thanks when something hard seized her thigh. Jerking awake, Rouge struggled to pull her leg free but it was a hopeless battle; in seconds Knuckles had trapped one of her legs between his own; the bat knew what was coming next and, energised by such forebodings, shrieked,

"Don't you dare Knuckles, not if you want to live!"

"I'm still alive now – start squealing batgirl or I'll do it for you".

"You do, you do…no wait!" A gossamer touch feathered on her bare sole and she crumbled like a bridge of candyfloss, "okay IblabbedIblabbedIblabbed!"

"You what?" Luckily his distraction gave her enough of a chance to rip her vulnerable foot free from his grasp; even as she was nursing the violated super-sensitive tissue she knew she had to answer his next question, "What are you babbling on about this time?" Knowing she was snookered good and proper this time, Rouge rolled around to face her husband, her expression contrite if not completely unabashed,

"Okay, right, I know when I've backed the wrong horse; Knuckles, remember last night?"

"Which bit?"

"After we'd all been sat 'round the table for too long – what happened then?"

"Athair opened his mouth and I nearly shoved my fist down it?" The bat coughed with laughter for a second before continuing, not daring to stand up for her beloved great-grandfather-in-law as the guardian looked ready to blow his top if she mentioned the hated name again,

"No, well yes, that did happen but I meant, slightly after that?"

"You and Sabre wandered off…oh boy", he knew just by the look on her face it hadn't been that simple and immediately resigned himself to the worst, "all right, what happened?"

"Well…"

The story took mere minutes to tell – it took the guardian significantly longer to believe it,

"You didn't – Rouge you can't…oh _Rouge_", he flopped onto his back, both hands pressing into his eyes despite the grin that had forced itself onto his lips, "why?"

"Staplers Knucks", the bat said in a small voice, shuddering as the mere memory of what Sabre had threatened to use made her ears quiver in nervous anticipation, "crocodile clips". The echidnas' grin simply grew, dreadlocks fanning out on either side of his pillow as he shook his head, picturing not just the scene he'd just heard but also the likely ramifications of his bride's faux pas,

"Oooh, by the Master alone; well, you know what this means", something about the way he said it, not to mention the way he suddenly turned his head around to look at her chillingly, made the bat's cheeks go white, "next time we're in town, you have an apology to make".

"No, oh come on", once she'd figured out what he was on about she tried to change his mind, shaking her head in tandem with Knuckles nodding his, "he doesn't need to know – it could just be an accident". The echidna goggled at her, open-mouthed at such bare-faced cheek,

"You filthy hypocrite – after you made me 'fess up to Mighty, no chance in hell you're worming out of this. Get some kip baby", Knuckles grin reached epidemic proportions as he rocked onto his back again, "come tomorrow you'll probably be needing it once my lot get through with him and he figures it out". He said no more, didn't need to say any more; Rouge knew the lines and limits better than he did – after all, she'd set most of them – so it was only right she fell on her sword if she broke them. He snorted in his mind; it was almost too delicious and; _hello_; as he felt something crab its way onto his stomach, he realised that there might yet be a cherry to top this delicious dish.

"Now Knuckie", unlike before the bats' voice was now deep, fulsome, "are you sure…"

"Perfectly", he said before rolling suddenly, his overhooking arm catching Rouge by surprise and hugging her in close suddenly; shock pinched her expression for a minute before it melted away to leave something else behind, the expression he wanted to see for now at least, "but please", he broke of to kiss her lips quickly, a taster to whet her appetite, "don't stop trying on my account".

If she had a response to that, he never heard it that night.

A/N: Guys, guys, wooden cabin – get a sprinkler system or something, just in case!

I swear that's as dark as it gets; lighter times ahead, for most of the gang at least…


	11. Chapter 11 Reflections and Revenge

Chapter 11 – Reflections and Revenges

Chapter 11 – Reflections and Revenges.

A/N: A long chapter this one, and an important one following the revelations previously; thus I took my time over what could be the most important piece of fanfiction I've ever written. I hope it measures up to your expectations and I hear from you all soon:

MS - Thanks for pointing out the errors in my last post, though in the context I was using it barking means grazing. Let me know if you find anything else and enjoy the read this chapter.

Ri2 - Yes that's where the name came from, though how she became a ninja, that's a different matter entirely.

DGA - Hope this chapter is enough to sate your eagerness; as mentioned above, please point out any errors you see so I can continue to improve myself.

Artemis - Don't worry, I know how crazy a life can get; hope you enjoy the new chapter and you get a chance to review it sometime soon.

Rowan - The answers to any questions can always be painful; do you shy from the pain, or do you drive yourself forwards onto the thorn to taste the sweet nector of the flowers they protect? It's a question you ask yourself now, though I hope you read on...

Willow - The old armour gone already; is it a little too early to make such an announcement, though I hope you are proved to be correct. Only time, however, can tell us for sure.

Wolf - Glad to have you in the hunt again; drop me a line if you get the chance to take a little time out from your hectic life. Hope you enjoy this latest offering.

SM - I like a long review; please don't take this as a critism but I can't write the reply you deserve; I don't have enough time. All I can say is that I hope you enjoy this chapter and I'll make it up to you next time.

As she finished straightening up the last of the sleeping bags the chameleon paused for a minute to admired her handiwork before giving the very bottom bag a swift, soft kick; _git!_ Replaying Vectors' last swipe in her mind was enough to make her ears ring even now but, despite the slight ache and the damage done to her pride, she couldn't feel angry any more. In fact, as she sat down on the bed and looked around her room, hands clasped together and fiddling around in her lap, Esprana wasn't sure exactly what she was feeling period; was it relief, this sudden surge of lightness that seemed to be flowing through her, the same gentle feeling of relief as when a nagging headache departed? Or was it something else, a sort of humility that touched her now – after all, the fact that despite the hell she'd put them through, all three of the Chaotix had been there for her without complained or cajoling – would she have done the same; _no, in all probability not. Or, at least..._;

She took a deep breath and let in out a sigh; it felt like the first exhalation of her entire life and, she realised with a little jolt, in a way it was – just as she hadn't been able to answer her earlier question, now she couldn't quite wrap her head around this new and looming challenge, heading towards her at breakneck speed. Espio, she knew, knew for a fact, would never have even considered turning back and helping someone who'd lagged behind as the others had – he who falls behind gets left behind was his philosophy, but did that mean it was hers as well? What had happened last night had meant that the mask Esprana had hidden behind for so long was shattered and could never again be repaired, but at the same time did that mean there was nothing left of her alter ego? The chameleon she had been, her other self in a way, had been blessed with some redeeming features, though admittedly they weren't immediately obvious to a casual observer. What she had to do now was answer a very basic and, because she didn't know the answer at all, very frightening question; who was Esprana, and how much of a hand did Espio still have in the proceedings? _It's going to be like walking a tightrope this is_; staring ahead into the middle distance she let herself empty, one of the things Espio would have done in times like this, her thoughts, just as his would have done, left to drift towards their own conclusions at their own pace; _all I know is that I can't be Espio any more – I will not_; that point she was certain of – she would not let herself fall into that trap again; _I used him to escape, make sure I wouldn't get hurt any more, but I stuck with it too long – because no-one knew I was really Esprana, I forgot it myself. Now I don't know who I am, or who I want to be – all I know is that I am not Espio, but there are a few traits of his I'd like to keep_.

As she had for months before, Esprana sat alone in her bedroom, trying to think things through – this time however, she thought not to forget the problem, trying to fool herself it did not exist because she couldn't pretend any more. The truth was out for better or worse, so now she had to think about what she was going to do next to cope with what had happened; compared to that issue, the meditation Espio had undergone seemed a novices' exercise – pretending an obstacle didn't exist was an awful lot easier than trying to navigate a way over, around or through it. She shook her head slightly a moment later; she couldn't think about it right now, the events were too fresh, too painful in her mind at the minute – she'd have to work something concrete out later. _Still_; as she sat up and cast a final, unreadable glance at the three neatly stacked sleeping bags, the chameleon realised she had at least made a slight start, and a positive one at that; _I've got people who's opinions I can ask now – that's something he never had, and grateful to see the back of that I am too!_

XXX

The scene that greeted her when she swung open the kitchen door was a king of quiet, controlled bedlam; each of the other Chaotix were busy doing something in their own way but none, she noticed as she never had before, ever seemed to trip another up; her team were three separate entities working individually towards a common goal. To a casual observer, such as she was now, it was a fascinating thing to see play out and, had Charmy not called out as he noticed her from the corner of his eye, she could probably have stood there all day,

"Hey Esp", he broke off his rhythm suddenly, tablespoon dropping into the sugar pot as he realised what he'd said and glanced up guiltily, "you, ah, you don't mind if we call you that do you?"

"Hmm? Oh, er, no, no that's fine", she replied, caught quite as off-guard as the bee, and the other two probably, now felt, "actually, there was something I…wanted to say about that?"

"About what?" Vector interjected, his interest having only just disengaged from the breakfast he was throwing back as though news of an imminent famine had reached his ears; _some things never change – nice to know_. Hiding her smile as the sudden thought popped up out of nowhere, the chameleon sat down at the table opposite him, the other two Mobians drawn in by the gravity she seemed to suddenly exude,

"Something about me, though you've probably heard more than you ever wanted to know already", he quipped with a weak chortle, one that wasn't returned as the others digested her words, "look, fact of the matter is I, well, I can't say it any clearer than this, so I don't know who the hell I am any more. Espio's gone and that's a given, but it's going to take time, a lot of time, before Esprana's ready to fill the breach, if you see where I'm coming from?" There was a short pause before, her chair scraping as she leant forwards to sink her chin into her hands, Mighty mused her words and made her own mind up,

"I see Esprana, I get it. Well, first things' first, don't rush into it", she glanced up, making sure the chameleon was paying her very close attention before she elaborated, "I can't imagine what it's been like living under a false alibi for years, I don't think any of us can. This is your chance to get out of there, get out of being Espio and become someone else, someone more worthwhile; do not mess it up – you've got time, and you've got us", the Mobians flanking her both nodded in assent as the armadillo indicated them, her tone softening as she looked at the other girl warmly, support rather than warning lacing her voice now, "we will help you Esprana, as much as we're able to, and as long as you ask us to".

The chameleons' response wasn't immediate; she appeared to be thinking of the correct words to use in a situation like this – it wasn't something to be approached lightly and that was for sure. After a minute though, she seemed to swallow a lump in her throat and answer, her tone likewise bereft of its normal coldness and, the others noticed with not a little surprise, a lot less deep and gravely than Espios' voice had ever been,

"Thank you, all of you", she said with deep sincerity before seeming to shrink backwards a little, her voice shrinking a touch as she approached a point she hadn't yet considered, "but, thing is, I…I don't want to, to tell the others yet; I don't want them to know about this", she explained hastily as Charmy crossed his eyes, trying to work out what she meant. The bee gave a gasp of understanding just before Vector spoke, shrugging his shoulders as he considered it a fair point,

"Suits us Esp; like Might said, we're 'ere t'help. When ya feel ready, come f'ward – don' rush it or yer'll end up makin' a'ash of it. Any'ow", his eyes flicked to above her head and without further ado he dived back into his breakfast, the pace of his eating leaving everyone else speechless as he spoke around the food in his jaws, "get sommat down y'all; we got work ta do".

"Vector", Mighty looked away, faintly nauseated at the pace of such rampant gluttony, "at least slow down a bit; you'll give yourself heartburn". The crocodile paused to loom up, no more, before he gestured to the clock above where Esprana sat with a vindicated wave of his food-encrusted fork,

"Would if I 'ad time babe; I gorra be on duty in five".

At that point, and at that point alone, the rest of reality that existed just outside the Chaotixs' front door seemed to reassert itself with a cacophonous crunch – though last night had been a complete turning point of the Chaotix as a team, it had been simply another night like any other to the rest of Angel Island; how could the rest of the world know, or even care, about the events in a single household, however monumental they might be? It was bigger than they were and because of that had just kept right on turning; now it was up to them to try and put their worries behind them temporarily and catch up with where it had left them behind in its wake,

"Dammit; right, everyone", not unusually it was Charmy who reacted first to his leaders' pronouncement but, unusually, it was he who seized the reins of command, ordering the rest of the team into something like a cohesive force, "get a light breakfast and, I'm not on duty today, I'll make waffles for lunch. Mighty, with me this afternoon…"

As activity rang throughout the kitchen and disorder reined supreme, all was as it should have been once again; the night that had been and pretty much all else was forgotten in the mad rush to be ready for the dawning of the new day.

Once again, normality returned to the home of Angel Islands' assistant guardians.

XXX

_Just made it_; though the crocodile seemed an unlikely candidate in the eyes of most people, he was actually rather proud of both his own personal time-keeping and the way the Chaotix as a whole ran – if it wasn't on time, it usually wasn't on target was the crocodiles' philosophy. Today, however, despite a little tardiness being fully justified against the backdrop of the canvas it had sprung from, it appeared that fortune blessed him with her favour; as he sprinted the last few feet along the sandy tunnel that led to the heart of the shrine as well as someone with half a bowl of hastily bolted down cereal could hope to sprint anywhere, Vector stumbled to a halt as something twanged against his finely-honed sense of the ordinary. Something was out of place; not all was not as it should be, but could he put his finger on what it was; _can I hell? Well, start with the facts_; bereft as he was of his normal split-second analysis and processing of any given scenario, the crocodile was forced to do things the old fashioned way – folding his arms across his belly, where his stomach was still noisily protesting against the queasy start it had been forced to endure in the morning, the head of the Chaotix slowly tracked his head around the interior of the shrine and tried to figure out what was wrong with the pictures he was taking; _okay, so the rocks' still glowing on the pillar over there. That's good – I don't think I could handle a dose of air-sickness this early in the day_; Vector shuddered as visions of Angel island plummeting from the heavens assailed his mind, his gut churning its own frantic warning at the thought and as grateful as he was that the Master Emerald was still doing whatever it did that kept the massive chunk of rock anchored in the heavens; _so, I can assume the Dark Legion haven't come sniffing around – good 'cause I don't fancy a dust-up this early either. So, all's as it should be, but where's…_

The stillness of the shrines' interior was shattered suddenly by the sound of flash impacting against flesh at high velocity; it was then broken again by a groan of equal parts relief that he'd seen the missing part of the jigsaw and aggravation that it had taken him this long to do so – he'd have to be sharper than this to last through the day of questions that were coming his way, he was sure of that. Dragging his hand down his elongated snout, the crocodile heaved himself down towards the nearest vacant pillar, all seven of the smooth stone cylinders bare as the seven children of the Master Emerald, the Chaos Emeralds birthed from it in ages past scattered, created in an act that had had shattered both a family and the entire race of echidnas in a single, devastating act; in Vectors' opinion, the saying about the road to hell being paved with good intentions had never been more appropriately applied than in the sad story of the Chaos Siphon and its ill-fated creators. One had been Dimitri, the founder lord and grandmaster of Angel Islands' militant, technocratic faction of echidnas, the silent and sinister Dark Legion; _or at least, he was up until Amy got through with him_; while the other, Edmund, had been irradiated by Chaos energies in the blast and fathered the line of echidnas tasked with protecting the Master Emerald, the fabled guardians of Angel Island.

Theirs was a task that had spanned generations, a burden they had each born in turn and handed down to their children – it was also a burden that Vector, and by extension the rest of his team, now shared with the most recent descendent of the original guardian; it was this particular Mobian, or more accurately, the absence of this particular Mobian from this particular scene, that Vector now belatedly realised had stood out as an anomaly from the normal scene. Leaning against the nearest pillar with one hand, the crocodile scratched his brow with the other as he tried to figure out what could have gone wrong; _wonder what's keeping…in fact_; he broke off his thoughts with a chuckle, shaking his head as all of a sudden his thoughts seemed tunnelled towards a very specific set of circumstances that were probably keeping him very busy indeed this early in the morning; _probably better I don't answer that – or, at least, not quite yet._

Just a few minutes after he'd made his mind up about this and settled himself down comfortably, Vector found himself shaking with mirth again as he won his mental bet; apart from the obvious, there were very few other things he could think of that would tempt a whistle out of Knuckles this early in the morning. He timed his question to perfection, his irked snarl reverberating through the shrine just as its true guardian appeared around the corner, his cheerful tune dying on his lips as his employees' verbal; rumble throttled the life from it,

"Yer late".

"And you Vector, are ugly", Knuckles shot back from the lip, the smile that had been plastered on his face since he'd walked in only growing at the sight of irritation being swamped with outraged indignation on the crocodiles' face, "tomorrow morning I will be on time, and you will still be ugly".

There was a pause before the crocodile could answer, a pause Knuckles used to full advantage by mirroring Vectors' earlier movement and making himself comfortable against one of the pillars; for some reason he'd never really figured out, he never felt at ease sitting cross-legged, he always had to kneel, preferably with his back braced against something. A convenient tree was always best for such leaning but sometimes, as was the case now when the echidna stretched back and closed his eyes, a short stone pillar would just have to do,

"Ya know", the guardian opened one eye in time to see Vector scowling across at him, "I might take 'fence t'that sorta talk if it weren't so true ta life. Any'ow, yer 'markably chipper so early an' there's only two reasons I'cun think of t'make it tha' way. An' oddly 'bough, both of 'em involve yer missus", Knuckles merely raised a coy eyebrow at the crocodile's suggestion – he obviously wanted to draw this out and, seeing the glorious suggestions being writ large across his friends' furry face Vector had no choice but to acquiesce, itching as he was for the truth, "go'n then, which wer'it – one-over or leg-over?" Knuckles chortled, rubbing his hands together gleefully as he gladly imparted the juicy new news,

"Better", the echidna smarmed, the casual tone of his words sending Vector reeling; _what could be better than…?_; "both, one just after the other"; _ooh, you fluky git_; despite the innuendo that everyone else who knew them embarked on periodically, and they themselves had in truth been known to dabble in occasionally, Vector had never really had seen any point in pursuing Rouge at all – though he sometimes thought this a bit of a shame, he kept their relationship purely professional as much, if not more so, out of mutual respect for her talents and the fact he loved her very dearly as a friend as because of the ring that graced her fourth finger now. Still, just because she was out of his reach didn't mean he wasn't allowed to point out the blindingly obvious; Rouge was and in all probability always would be an absolute stunner and Knuckles had really scooped the winning ticket in life's lottery by having her as his bride – the fact that he could also occasionally, as he obviously had now, get the upper hand on her in a battle of wits as well as between the sheets really was the icing on the cake as far as the crocodile was concerned. Chuckling in time with the echidnas' gleeful rubbing of hands together, Vector clasped his hands in front of him and motioned for him to continue,

"You lucky bleeda; well, don' keep a croc in s'spence, give us the gen. Nuthin' too steamy mind", he fanned his face as though blasted by a hot wind, Knuckles rolling his eyes at his exaggerated theatrics, "might do in me ticker this early in th'mornin'".

"Well, what happened, and this is the…"; _huh?_; Vector paused for a second, confused as Knuckles suddenly tailed off, the expression on his face hardening from smutty explanations, through shocked surprise until, finally, it levelled out into serious appraisal, the guardians' tone likewise devoid of anything other than concern as he continued sombrely, "…what happened can wait for the minute – looks like you've got a story of your own. How'd that happen?"

As the echidna nodded towards him Vector finally understood and was in all truthfulness a little relieved that the source of the problem could be so easily resolved. By bringing his hands forwards to fan his face as he had, he'd exposed his arm and, more importantly, the bandage that still covered most of one of his forearms; _still_; and it was true, he realised almost before he finished the thought, his own reaction one of slight surprise as he realised how easily this particular lie came to his mind – he'd thought it would have been more difficult to tell a porky now; _I did come prepared for this little eventuality_;

"Wha, this?" It was an unnecessary question and both of them knew it, but by treating the matter as more of a joke Vector hoped to be able to put his employer-stroke-friend a bit more at ease that the matter wasn't as serious as it first appeared, "Dun' worry Knucks, it's really nuthin'. Put it like this", he tried a different tack as the guardian remained stony-faced, "if yer story's a triumph fer wha' men can do when they've a mind to, mine a caution'ry tale fer wha' 'appens when they overreach 'emselves. Men, as ya doubtless know an' I foun' out, cannot multi-task".

It worked, and it worked well; it was all Vector could do to keep his mask of coolness intact for a minute as the guardian let a slow smile seep over his face, the rustle of his distinctive hairstyle as it fanned over his shoulders a piquantly comforting noise to the reptile as his friend shook his head before answering,

"Yep, I know that one far too well; in my case it was trying to snatch a handful of grapes out a tree at the same time as glide in a straight line", it was the crocodiles' turn to snigger as Knuckles rubbed his nose before pointing over at him, more curious than worried now, "go on then; I spilt my guts, your turn now".

"No' much t'tell really", he replied, just the right tone of abashment in his voice to keep the illusion real, "there I were, stood a'the side, jointin' a nice hunk o'meat when Might comes saunterin' in", he started moving his hand as though to mimic sewing, Knuckles already screwing up his face as he guessed what was coming next, "so yeah, she starts chattin' 'bout 'er day an' wha's goin' on – fatal really, I started chattin' back", suddenly he appeared to slip in mid-air, the hand holding the phantom needle suddenly jamming itself up against the bandages in his arm; at the same time the crocodile rolled his eyes upwards, jaws dropping open in a silent shriek of pain as the guardian winced sympathetically, "shoomp, righ' up me arm goes th' knife. O' course, all kicks off frum there, don' it; I'm bundled inta t'back o'the van, Might's got 'er foot t'the floor wi'the blues an' tunes goin' – I were only grateful yer mum weren't there, I'd never'a lived it down".

"Too right", the echidna agreed; love his mother he most assuredly did but there was no way he could deny that Lara-Le had a slyly vicious streak in her wider than Vectors' smile, "just as well she's on leave now; take it from me though she's already bored with it", he elaborated as the reptile raised an eyebrow he didn't have, "she's a bit too big to do all that much any more – that and the hormones are driving her crazy, and they're probably not doing all that much for Wyns' peace of mind either". Vector gave a dry chuckle before shaking his head,

"Fair 'nough; still not tha' long t'go now 'ey? When's 'e due?" Knuckles shrugged,

"Not a hundred percent sure to be honest; neither's mum for that matter", he added, a touch defensively as the crocodile looked disbelieving, "still, it's soon and thank goodness for that – the sooner Kneecaps is out in the world, the sooner it'll be before he cracks out his egg".

"An' the sooner you'll 'ave t'be on 'and fer babysittin' duties", Vector chipped in, smirking as Knuckles suddenly shuddered; _don't think that had quite crossed your mind had it?_; "well, if yer int'rested, I might 'ave a plan t'get y'outta that'un".

"Really?" The guardian blinked, suddenly looking much more attentive as he leaned in a little closer, "don't keep me in suspense then Vec, not on this one – I am literally all ears". Though not by nature particularly cruel, the head of the Chaotix wouldn't have been able to call himself Mobian if he hadn't drawn out the silence for just a second before delivering his killer punch-line,

"The way I see it mate, best way of avoidin' 'aving to look after someone else's nipper", Knuckles craned his neck even further forwards, not seeing the trap he was being lured in to until Vector's grin had eclipsed half his face; he pulled back, scowling and blushing even as the crocodiles' last words lacerated both his ears and his pride,

"Is t'get one o'yer own! And frum what y'were sayin' earlier…"

"Unless you want another sharp object in another tender region of your anatomy, don't finish that sentence".

"…Suits me, yer the boss, at least when yer mum's not around".

"Now that Vector", Knuckles agreed, nodded sagely at the same time as fighting to get his blush under control again, "is the first intelligent thing you've said all day".

XXX

Following Vectors' sudden departure the mood at the Chaotixs' home had calmed down remarkably; as usual, once they were all certain all the important details were being taken care of, the other three members of the team fell easily into their usual routine of generally existing. This time, however, something was different; one of the three was wrestling with a heavy decision, one she could not quite come to an accord with, not yet at least; finally, with a sigh, Esprana put down the duster and polish she was carrying and crept into the kitchen, idly waving down Charmy from where he was hovering near one of the windows with a bottle of cleaner. The bee tailed her into the kitchen where, after the second of appraising the problem, she flicked her foot towards the nearest plug socket in the wall, expertly hitting the switch down; Mighty looked down for a second, befuddled as to why the hoover had suddenly gone dead, before spinning on her heel and seeing the cause of the disturbance. Seeing the desire caught deep in the chameleons' eyes, the armadillo nodded and headed for the table, pulling out a chair for her self and slumping down in it,

"Something you want off your chest Esp?"

"Something like that", she nodded sadly, motioning for Charmy to sit down as well as she geared up for what she had to say next; _and isn't this just going to be a killer?_; "fact is, I have been thinking about this all morning; I don't know what to do next".

"Well after you've finished dusting, you could always…"

"I don't mean that Charmy", the chameleon snapped before immediately regretting her harsh tone – the bee, after all, had never been one to pass up an opportunity to lighten a dark mood, "I…"

"…know, I know", the bee finished for her, all his previous irreverence gone as he continued, "it must be a scary thing, having to throw your whole life around to try and get it to make sense again – I've done it before don't forget, when I left home, but even I was able to plan that, you never had that luxury".

"I did, I just didn't take it", she corrected him before carrying on as best she could, "anyway, as Vec would say looking back's about as much use as a chocolate fireguard – we, or I've got a problem, I need to figure out how to solve it". Mighty, having sat in peace throughout this so far ruminating over the facts she knew, sat forwards at this point, steepling her fingers under her chin and letting her observations speak for themselves,

"From what I can see Esprana", the chameleon flinched, still not used to hearing her proper name yet, "the only problem you have; I say only, but I know it must be a huge thing for you; is to work it out from square one again. You said earlier you didn't want to be like, like you were", she would not name Espio if she could help it – the more this girl was reminded of the horror she had been, the more chance there was of her reverting to that familiar, frightening form, "but, at the same time, you know because of how you've been, you've got some skills you want to keep. Okay, that's fair enough, but", the armadillo accepted that point because it made a lot of sense to her; _now, however, comes the crunch of the issue_; "what you've got now is to deal with something you're completely not used to, something that rattles even a ninjas' nerves", the chameleon looked over and Mighty dared to smile, just a little, as she finished with the direst of truths as far as Esprana was concerned,

"You've got to learn to be sociable".

It took a lot to get Charmy to wince but, as Mighty but the scale of the chameleons' problem into language as bold as that, the bee had no choice but to look at what was going on in a whole new light. In all the years he'd known her, the chameleon he now recognized as Esprana had never once so much as poked her nose outside the Chaotix front door unless one of three circumstances were present; she was out on business terms, she was going out to do some training, or someone, usually Vector, was applying his size thirteens to her tail in order to get some peace in the house. _Eight or maybe nine years, give or take_; glancing sidelong, Charmy suddenly felt a twinge of pity for his team mate, one that grew into an ache as he really began to understand how much of a sea change in, not just direction, but in her entire lifestyle this was going to have to be; _that's a lot of years to have to try and forget, a lot of mind-work to have to try and reprogram_. To her credit though, at least she was trying – something the Espio he'd known would never have done; he felt a modicum of pride swirl up in his belly as he heard the chameleon speak again, agreeing with Mightys' words, knowing that the armadillo was right, something needed to change,

"Yeah, I know, and that's the scary bit; the other thing is I, er, I don't, really, want the others, you know, Rouge and that, to know about this, not yet".

"That's fine", Charmy cut in, perhaps a little too abruptly, "like Vec said earlier, or was it you Might; either way", he continued, not wanting to get bogged down in the details before delivering his message, "you've got to take this at your own pace – we'll help as much as we can, don't worry about that, but the one who decides what to do next has to be you. Sad I know, and probably bloody frustrating as well, but unfortunately it's true".

"Maybe, certainly frustrating and all that", she acquiesced to his assessment before her expression became troubled once again, "but the main thing is, right now, I need a bit of help; if I'm doing something wrong, if I start acting, like I was", both the others nodded, understanding exactly what she was driving at and, the burden of such an admission lifted, Esprana was able to finish what she'd said a lot more easily than she'd hoped, "I need you pair, and Vector too when he's about, to tell me I'm doing it – chances are I won't even recognize it. You understand?"

"Perfectly, and you can start right now", Mighty remarked after a seconds' pause, the chameleon looking over startled; _what've I done – I didn't think I was doing…_; "stop talking like you used to; use your real voice for a change".

"Huh? Oh", no reptile could truly blush but Esprana came close to it, the scales of her face threatening to change colour for a second before she clamped down on the response, "sorry, I didn't realize. How's this?"

Both the other Mobians had pricked their ears, the noise issuing from the reptiles' lips nothing like the voice they had become inured to during their time with Espio; rather than his grating whispers, Esprana sounded a little higher in pitch and, unusually, a little louder as well – as the rest of the Chaotix had spent what felt like half their working lives trying to force the chameleon to speak up, this came as something of an unexpected bonus. However, most importantly, the voice sounded natural; now she was letting the words flow instead of forcing them, Esprana sounded like she could hold something more meaningful than a ten-second conversation, something Charmy was very keen to pick up on despite the niggling voice at the back of his mind continually repeating that there was something he was missing in this picture,

"Very nice, much better"; Esprana smiled sheepishly at the praise before coughing quietly,

"Sore though", she pulled at the flesh around her throat and swallowed deeply, "typical, get used to using one voice and start weaning myself off the sucky-sweets, now gotta do the same thing again in reverse". Mighty chuckled,

"That's life I'm afraid – two steps forwards, one step back, though speaking of steps", casting her eyes towards the clock the armadillo hastily downed the dregs of her tea and stood up, "we'd better make a couple of quick steps; shopping's due today and you, much as I'm afraid to say this, have got to come with me".

"What?" Confusion reigned for a few minutes before the chameleon saw the sense behind the armadillo's words, "Why…oh, right – I guess you're right; Charm, you're okay with the late shift?"

"Have been up to now", he replied off-handedly, idly grateful that neither Mighty nor Esprana realised his pre-occupation, "have a good trip, and see if you can bring back something worth eating for breakfast this time; like it or not we're getting you off that gopping awful cereal you eat – like eating wet cardboard". _Fair enough, I suppose I could do with a change_; smiling, she nodded over to him as Mighty bustled past, clearing the condiments off the table,

"I'll see what I can find – later Charmy, and thanks". Knowing what she was talking about and not wanting to think abut it more than he had to, the bee simply nodded and watched her go with half an eye; the other half, and most of his mind, was still furiously trying to piece together a different puzzle – there was something he should do now, some source of information he should be able to tap in a situation like this but it remained elusively, infuriatingly, just out of reach. _Just for once_; as Mighty had earlier he glanced upwards, the clock ticking onwards and counting down the time he had left until he could finally get somewhere cool and quiet to think; _I'll be grateful when it's time for my shift to start_.

XXX

"Ouch", despite himself Vector winced as Knuckles nodded glumly, the echidna having just explained what the ceremony of the guardians' actually entailed, rather than what it represented, "every year?"

"Oh yeah", the guardian sighed, already dreading that date upon the calendar, "lucky old me, though of course the other half gets a get-out clause; believe me though", his melancholy was broken by a sudden smirk as he recalled the previous evening, "if she doesn't use it for this time next year I'll be the most surprised there".

"Why's that then Knucks – yer've bin leadin' up t'sommat all day, don' deny it", Vector cut off the echidnas' aggrieved look with a pointed finger, "I'cun tell, yer like readin' a book. Now, out wi'it, 'less ya want me t'beat it outta yer 'ide".

"Sorry, that's a pastime only Rouge gets to indulge in", the guardian informed him, chuckling again as the crocodile grimaced, "and even then only when I'm feeling generous, and even when I'm feeling not sometimes". The guardian gave a slightly embarrassed squirm at this, a couple of old bruises throbbing a little sorely as they reminded him acutely of just how true that last statement actually was, before a menacing growl from just across the room made him look up. For his part Vector actually said nothing, though the way he was rubbing one set of knuckles meaningfully at the same time as stare at the echidna in the same manner as a crash-dieter would regard the last biscuit on a platter, Knuckles realised it might be time to start coming, if not exactly squeaky-clean, then at least a little less grimy than this business had started out as being,

"Well, much as I'd like to Vec, and believe me", he held up a forestalling hand as the crocodile threatened to get ready to pounce, "there's a lot there I'd like to claim credit for, the fact is I can't say a whole heck of a lot just yet. It'll come out in time I'm sure, but for now, until this weekend in fact, the whole matter's got to stay under wraps".

"'kay"; _whew…_; the echidnas' mind wiped phantom sweat from its brow as the crocodile gave that pronouncement after what felt like eons of laboured deliberations, "I'cun wait tha' long I guess, 'long as"; …_thought there'd be a proviso though_; "I getta reason why I'm bein' left on tenter'ooks?" Knuckles brightened immediately,

"Ah, now that I can provide; the simple fact of that matter is…"

What that simple fact was, however, was drowned out by sudden fizzing noise that ended in a noise like a small thunderclap; both Mobians looked at each other for a minute before transferring the target of their attention towards the most recent excavation within the shrine of the Master Emerald itself; the short tunnel leading to the Chaotix teleporter was silent for a minute before, with a rustle of beating wings, Charmy breezed in, settled himself on the floor, dusted himself off, glanced up at the two gawking at his sudden appearance and immediately began shooting off orders,

"Change of plan you pair; life at home's just too manic for me at the minute so Vec, clear off – I need a bit of me-time to sort my head out. Knuckles", such was the determination in the younger Mobians' gaze the echidna flinched as Charmy pressed on remorselessly, "technically this place is yours so I can't order you out of it – however unless you fancy spending the next few hours of your life listening to me monologuing I suggest you find somewhere else to be, probably with that charming wife of yours. Everyone clear with that? Okay then", having heard no answer to his question the bee clapped his hands, the matter done and dusted as far as he was concerned, "off you go then; come on, pip-pip, time is money and all that".

"Err", such was his surprise that it wasn't until he found himself hauled to his feet and almost being bodily dragged along towards the exit point that the Vector managed to get some of his facilities back on line – realising that arguing with the bee in this mood would be a wasted effort, the crocodile tried desperately to salvage something from the hour and a bit he'd endured listening to the grist of the guardian's speech in order to crack through to the juicy bit in the middle, "'ang on; Knucks, ya gotta gimme sommat man!" To his immense frustration and disappointment however, the echidna merely smiled and tapped the side of his nose,

"Next week Vec I promise; I'm going I'm going"; true to his word Knuckles rose smoothly to his feet and headed towards the main shrine exit, a little surprised but not unduly perturbed by the sudden break from the normal Chaotix routine – after all, though there was a supposed and, the echidna suspected, half-mythical rota system his ad-hoc assistants worked to, circumstances such as illness, important chores and (in Mighty's case) boyfriend visitation rights meant they usually ended up chopping and changing shifts as often as Knuckles changed his socks. Hearing the teleporter zap into life again as he left the echidna put the matter from his mind and idly strode away towards some other part of Angel Island, his feet finding their own way as he walked without really paying too much attention to where he was going – as far as he was concerned at the minute, knowing the Master was in safe hands, the destination wasn't really important.

All Knuckles cared about right now, aware of his surroundings in a way he never really had been before, was finding his way somewhere peaceful and an atmosphere of relative calmness; _wherever I find it isn't all that important really_; glancing upwards, the guardian fixed his eyes on a leaf as it fell to the ground from above, a smile splitting his lips a second later; _it's what I do there that matters_.

XXX

By a strange quirk of fate, itself a notoriously quirky creature in its own right, what was in the guardians' mind as he pushed through the undergrowth of his homeland was also the overriding thought lodged in two other minds running parallel with his own. One of those thought trains was being controlled by none other than Charmy Bee; having removed Vector from the equation by the simple expedient of shoving him through the teleporter array, the insect had stomped back into the main shrine chamber, heaved himself onto the plinth Vector had up until very recently been warming and got down to some serious brainwork.

_I've been here before, but I can't quite remember when_; that was the single most infuriating thing about this whole state of affairs – it wasn't that he didn't know the answer or that he couldn't figure it out, it was more that once upon a time he had solved a puzzle very similar to this but couldn't remember how he'd solved it, or even what the other puzzle had been come to that. Chin sunk on his fist, Charmy seemed to sink into some kind of trance so deep was his concentration; Eggman himself could have danced a waltz with Metal Sonic in front of him with the entire Dark Legion providing the backing music and it was doubtful whether the bee would have turned a hair at any of them. All his energy was devoted inwards, bent at breaking the riddle now running through his mind and desperate to do so, because he knew by putting the pieces of this puzzle together he'd be taking a major step forwards – he'd done it once he was sure of it, why shouldn't the same trick work twice? The answer flitted elusively, tantalisingly, just out of reach – his mind, fuelled easily by the sugar he'd wisely consumed before coming here in order to make sure he wouldn't run out of steam any time soon in this brain-slogging marathon, raced after it, determined to force it to ground and determined not to give up the chase until it did so. Frozen in stasis by these circumstances Charmy didn't move, all the action in his mind as he rushed ever onwards towards a goal he was certain to reach if he persevered long enough in his quest, never knowing that as the hours whizzed by, even as he continued onwards, the last of the strange trio united momentarily in their joint desires to find somewhere, was finally coming to the end of his sojourn.

XXX

The paper in his hand was snatched away by a playful wind; he watched it spin away in the dizzying gusts for a minute before returning to the matter at hand; _the directions are lost, but no matter_; dark glee was evident in his eye as he rubbed his wrist; _no matter where I end up, I can always get home no trouble, with someone for company if circumstances dictate. _

And dictate these circumstances most definitely did; having been charged with this mission, judged the only one who could successfully pull it off without causing too much undue fuss, failure was not an option now. Squaring his shoulders, the echidna staring at the block of flats before him made his next move, filtering through the quiet, wintry streets with a cool detachment, moving past the few other echidnas in the street almost as though he wasn't there. In was a difficult trick to pull off though, draining vital power he might need at some point in the near future; therefore when he saw the receptionists' desk was vacant he let the mind-veil drop like an uncomfortable cloak, pausing for just a second to make sure all was as it should be within him. _Yes, I'm ready_; sure in his own mind, the operative nipped over to the foot of the stairwell, mounted the first one, and began his ascent.

Some minutes later and things weren't going quite as rosily as he'd hoped; for a start, the directions he'd accidentally dropped in the street had actually contained the correct address, including most importantly the flat number and what floor it was on. He had been certain it was a second floor dwelling he was scanning for and he must have got the numbers slightly mixed up in his head rather than the other way around; he had therefore just spent the last couple of minutes apologising profusely to the slightly startled-looking young echidna who'd greeted him at her front door, obviously expecting the father of the little infant she'd held in her arms rather than a complete stranger turning up on her doorstep. _Still, mistakes can always be forgiven_; it was a comforting crumb of solace that he could take from that miserable episode, one that seemed to morph into a banquet before him as, on the first floor and searching of what he was sure was now the correct address; _providing one comes back with the goods in the end_. His certainty emboldened him even into forgetting his earlier mistake; drawing back his fist the second he was in range, the stalker rapped smartly on the door in front of him.

The sudden noise echoed in the still hallway and, his task done for the minute, the figure at the door stayed where he was; for a brief instant he thought all had been in vain before hope burst forth renewed; with a patter of forthcoming feet and a bolt being clicked open internally, the door before him swung inwards and he found himself face to face with proof he was in the right place; his target was in plain sight.

"Umm", the noise of confusion snapped him back to reality, his would-be host looking him up and down, "sorry, you are?"

XXX

"Oh, my apologies", he inclined his head a little at his oversight, the echidna at the door raising an eyebrow before his next words cleared up her confusion, "I am looking for your flatmate, Shadow Hedgehog? Is he in?" The former Legionnaire, Julie something-or-other if he remember the very brief briefing he'd been bored stupid with earlier that morning, gave a sharp inhalation of surprise before, to his well-concealed disappointment, she shook her head,

"No, I'm afraid he's not back yet – he works 'til five. Ah, anyway, you best come in, he won't be long – sorry I was about to start hoovering, but please make yourself comfortable". Her newest and most unexpected guest smiled graciously, another slight bow only heightening her already finely-honed sense of paranoia that something wasn't right about this set-up,

"You're most generous, er, Julie? Oh good", after so long spent reading people her start of surprise was an obvious give-away that he had her name right, "Shadow's mentioned you before but I wasn't sure I'd remembered your name. I won't be long I promise – just got a couple of little issues to iron out with your partner and then I'll be out your way". She didn't answer at once, merely standing to the side and letting, completely oblivious to the consequences such an action was to have in the near future, the serpent slither through her front door into the place she called home.

_Something's wrong here_; she knew it, every fibre of her being was screaming the same message but she'd be damned if she could put her finger on exactly what was out of place; _other than some complete stranger turning up unannounced and saying he's waiting for the hedgehog show up again_. Still, good manners dictated she had no choice but to follow her erstwhile guest and, after a minute of slowly-souring silence, at least make an attempt to break the ice,

"Would you, umm, like anything to drink, or eat for that matter?"

"Hmm?" It seemed like he'd been pre-occupied with admiring the colour scheme of the hall; Julie was about to ask again when he shook his head, "oh, no thank you; I'm quite all right and I assure you, once Shadow has shown himself I'll be much more than merely that". It was something about his voice, he sounded just too, well, odd; Julies' nerves were jangling madly as she watched the other echidna step smoothly over the sleeping dragon of the hoover she'd been forced to abandon on the hall floor to answer the knock at the door – try as she might though, the ex-Dark Legionnaire's normally infallible paranoid streak failed her. Though she was forced to go along with this charade for the minute she nevertheless kept her guard high; tailing her guest into the lounge, the partially mechanised echidna stepped into the doorway just in time to observe an impossible act, the one that brought the curtain of uncertainty crashing down and let her know exactly what she was dealing with now.

XXX

He had seen it; his briefing had been very detailed indeed, the information he'd been supplied with less than an hour old by the time it had reached his ears, and all given from a very willing conspirator indeed – at least, that was the official line he'd been told and, more wrapped up in the opportunity to go back into action at last, he wasn't about to question it. It was on a shelf, the title plainly visible and he reacted without thinking; only when the gasp came from behind him did he realise what he'd done and by then it was far too late; turning on the spot, his suddenly depthless, chilling eyes met those of a startled Julie-Su, her finger shaking upwards as it tried to tremulously point him out at the same time her stunned brain thrust across her lips the first words that occurred to it,

"You, I _know _you!"

XXX

As always in circumstances such as this, when the breach was finally forced the result, rather than jubilation, was a spike of frustration that it had taken so long to see something as plain as the nose on his face; with a growl Charmy broke off from staring at the far wall and drilled his knuckles into his forehead,

"I'm stupid", not content with the twinges of pain from his lower scalp, the bee began bouncing his bonce off his hard little fingers, each impact greeted with a rhythmic chant, "stupid…stupid…stupid…stupid – it's so bloody obvious!" Not a second later he had his phone in his hand and, for once, was counting his complete inability to remember to wipe his dialled numbers list as a blessing rather than a curse; the one he needed was way down the scrolling pages of numbers but, as his texting thumb found what he was after and he hit the big green button to start the call, he already knew it was worth the wait if only for his opening line,

"Hello?"

"Oh dear, doctor", the bee groaned theatrically, half-strangling his own vocal chords to make it sound like he was speaking through a wad of thick tissues, "I'm desperately ill, I need some for your trusty bedside manner to pull me through – I'll make it worth your while, champagne and chocolates as standard".

"What? Who the…" he almost felt as much as heard the resigned recognition on the other end of the line as the hedgehog he was calling realised she'd been spun a yarn, "…hello Charmy".

"Hi Ames", the bee dropped his disguise; as far as he was concerned now it was purely business, "listen, you're not busy are you?"

"No, well, not in the traditional sense at least; Sonic", her voice receded; Charmy realised she must have taken the phone from her ear to snap at the other hedgehog she now shared a tenancy with, "you so much as touch those dogs and I'll put your tongue in a splint!" The bee slapped a hand over his mouth as a disembodied 'aww' filtered through the phone line, just about able to reassert himself to hear Amy's next words, "Sorry Charm, what were you after?"

"That can wait for a second", he breezed, remembering one of Vectors' many snippets of information about the fine art of dealing with the opposite sex; _keep 'em talking about 'emselves, they'll lap it up – yeah right, and when was the last time you put that into practice?_; "how're you both getting on – is living with the legend as good as pursuing him was?"

"Well", despite himself the bee smiled; somehow he could just picture one particular pair of blues ears hanging on the pink hedgehogs' every word, "let's just say it comes with a distinct set of advantages, and _dis_advantages".

"Like what?"

"Like keeping him fed for a start", Amy complained to her remote confidante before taking a swipe at where her boyfriends' hands were now inching towards the pans on the stove, "honestly if there's one thing he and Eggman have in common it's an unhealthily large appetite".

"Oh believe me that is absolutely nothing", the bee countered admonishingly, a couple of reminders of his own very stark in his mind as he did so, "take it from me you could put both of them on a starvation diet for a year and Vector would still eat them both under the table".

"Under the table", Amy repeated before her voice once more became a little disembodied and Charmy shook his head; _wind each other up something chronic, get along like a house on fire – reminds me of home_; "Sonic if you do it won't just be the table you'll be buried und-ahh!"

The ear-splitting shriek almost made Charmy drop his phone; after a second of ensuring his eardrum hadn't been ruptured, the bee tentatively brought the appliance up once more and breathed into the end of it,

"Amy? You all right down there?"

"Oh, yeah, I'm fihehehehe-fine; not now!" Completely in the dark about the hedgehogs' apparent attack of schizophrenia Charmy tried to make sense of it all by engaging at least one half of his targets' attention,

"What? I can ring back…"

"No, no i-hiiit! It's just Sonic trying to behehe funny". Charmy shook his head smiling; _far too much like home_;

"Seems to be working, you're laughing". There was a brief sound of scuffling on the other end of the line before, it seemed, Amy won out and managed to answer,

"That's 'cause he's cheat-", her voice rose by several octaves "-iiiinng! Sonic!"

"I haven't dialled a wrong number here have I?" Try as he might to sympathise with her plight it just wasn't in Charmys' nature not to get in on the act, "this isn't one of those dodgy crest-a-minute lines is it?"

"Hmm"; with the sounds of scuffling still at the edges of his hearing and Amy demanding, 'gimme that!' as the voice mused on it didn't take a genius to join the dots as to what had happened downstairs, "not yet, but if you're willing to cough up…"

At Sonics' insinuation Charmy lost it helplessly; he was so far gone into his guffaws at the bawdy humour that he actually missed the end of the online relationship friction, though he was reasonably sure that skilful employment of the words 'eat tonight' played a large part in Amy's eventual victory. With a last huff in what he assumed was the direction of the door he could hear slamming in the background, the hedgehog tried to pick up where she left off despite sounding a little more rumpled than earlier,

"I can only apologise Charm; some days he is a first class pain in the proverbial". The bee winced and drew in a sharp breath,

"Ooh, sounds nasty; hope you can get some cream for that", Amy chortled, unable to sustain a frosty attitude if her life depended on it, "anyway leaving him to side for a bit, I was just ringing on the off-chance – if you reckon you can help me, I've got a bit of a problem to run through with you?"

"Go on"; _good_; though she was trying to keep her voice level Charmy reckoned he could just about pick up the first faint rumblings of a professional interest being awoken; _now to get the beast properly roused_;

"Yeah, so anyway, cutting to the chase the fact of the matter is someone I know's going through a really rough patch at the minute – not quite sure what kicked it all off but we're cautiously optimistic she's over the worst of it". He didn't quite finish the sentence on purpose; what was left was a cunningly baited trap, a dangling lure ready to draw in the unwary; oblivious to the double-dealing at play, Amy took the direct option and rumbled straight into the conversation Charmy wanted to have,

"Okay"; it was all the bee could do to suppress a hiss of excitement – there was no doubt about it now, she was definitely interested and because of that might cough up the information he needed so desperately, "so, how does this affect me exactly, or, to be a bit more precise how can I affect this?"

"Not sure, just looking for some ideas really and", he gave a self-depreciating chuckle as he shrugged, "let's face it, you're by far and away the best qualified out the lot of us; how is Sonic doing in that regard by the way – is he onto the A-Levels yet".

"He's got one or two, wants to sort out a third before he figures out where he wants to go next", Amy rattled off in rapid-fire speech; _good – she wants to get everything else out the way to focus on the conundrum I'm setting her_; "anyway, forget about him for a minute, and believe me I'm trying very hard to accomplish that very feat after earlier; back to you and your friend".

"Hmm? Oh yeah, her – well we're a bit stumped about what to do next really Ames. I mean", he tried to clarify the matter a little more, paint her the best possible picture to work with as every fact might have helped her diagnosis, "she's doing okay and all that, but she's still a bit, umm, bit…I don't know. Reserved, maybe – in a shell she doesn't know quite how to break out from? That's about as clear as I can make it; clear as mud I'll bet".

The line was silent at that comment, leaving Charmy in the dark; all he could do now was cross his fingers and pray that something in Amy's education so far had been something similar to the scenario he'd laid out for her,

"Not that bad", her firsts words made him cautiously optimistic; it was her next that really made him heave a sigh of relief, "in fact, yeah, I think there's something you can all do, fairly easy too if I'm honest about it".

"Amy", the bee spoke her name with something close to reverence in his voice, singing glorious hymns and anthems in his heart as he finally saw a glimmer of light leading out of the pit the Chaotix were still thrashing around in the bottom of, "you should know us by now – the path of least resistance in always the one we like to tread. Come on then, oh belle of the Station Square campus", the hedgehog sniggered at his unashamed compliment but he pressed on regardless, "what have you got for me this time?"

"Aside from a well-deserved slap upside the head?"

"Just as long as you don't touch the hair, or the antennae come to that – takes ages to sort out the reception again once someone's belted the side of the old brain-box".

"Not that the picture was ever that clear to start with", the pink hedgehog riposted before finally settling back down and giving her answer, "but as far as your friends' concerned, I think the best thing you could do would be to give her something to…just to aim at, that's the best way I can think to describe it".

_Aim at?_; whatever half-baked pre-conceptions he might have had that one wasn't on the list; _aim at with what – preferably with something other than a shuriken I assume_;

"Umm", trying to clear the waters Amy's answer had so thoroughly muddied up for him, the bee tried to limit the damage as much as he could, "come again? Aim for, in what way?"

"Give her a goal, something she should be able to achieve, something she really wants", the hedgehog explained patiently as months of lectures on the importance of empathy and patience, something that contrary to her sometimes quick temper, she had been naturally blessed with in spades, rigidly enforced the message that detailed explanations always yielded better results than all the screaming and shouting in the world, "if you can do that she'll have a reason, and a legitimate reason, to break out into the world again. Best thing of all would be to figure out a couple of lesser achievements, stepping stones if you like, that'll eventually help her get to the end point. See where I'm coming from?" Charmy took time out for a minute of careful and reasoned deliberation before nodding to himself, remembering there was someone else on the end of the line just before Amy was about to speak again and chide him into answering,

"I think so", he replied carefully, choosing his words with precise consideration, "so you're saying that the way forwards is don't force it, offer an incentive to get her off her tail?"

"The carrot usually works better than the stick"; _fair point I suppose_; more than that though, it was a point he could easily rationalise with and, better than even that, understand as being completely and utterly true, "who is she just out of interest"; _huh?_; the hedgehogs' question caught him completely out of the blue; he was only grateful for her next words giving him the breathing space he needed to start piecing together a coherent answer, "anyone I know?"

"Ah, 'fraid not actually Amy", the bee answered a second later in what he fervently hoped was a casual tone, "in fact, odd though this might sound, I don't really think any of us really know her all that well yet. Still, with what you've told me just now, I reckon we might just be able to coax her out into the big wide world again. Anyway, better get going now, supper'll soon be on the table; thanks again Amy, you're a star". The hedgehog smiled, half out of embarrassment and half out of pride at the comment,

"Thanks Charm, anything else you know where I am; anyway, speaking of supper, better get it dished up before Sonic starts flooding us out drooling"; as the two friends laughed at the joke neither of them saw a pair of jade green eyes narrow at this insult, nor did they hear two sneaker-clad feet begin to pick their way silently across a linoleum floor, "later buzz-boy, cheers, 'bye".

As the connection was finally broken two things happened simultaneously; Amy found herself pounced upon and subjected to a no-holds-barred wrestling-stroke-tickling lesson that only the smell of cremating chilli-dogs on the stove allowed her to breathlessly squirm free from, and even then Sonic was swearing further revenge once they'd finished the clearing up. More importantly though, at the same time the two hedgehogs were scrapping it out on the world below, up in the heavens of Angel Island a solitary bee hurtled pell-mell towards the exit of the Master emerald shrine, mind alight with both the new knowledge he had gleaned, and the needed to impart it to those who still had to hear such good news.

XXX

Though she immediately claimed it as proof of her superior ability to predict her quarry's' movements, in actual fact it was more by luck than judgement that Julie was stooped over the oven as she heard the front door rattle open; this, at least, gave her half a chance to wipe the greasy, gleeful smile off her face before Shadow appeared around the door, his customary lunchbox and newspaper clattering heedlessly to the tabletop as he nodded a greeting to her.

"Good day?" She shrugged,

"About average", her reply was likewise as off-hand as his, though as she visibly brightened Shadow pricked his ears, "oh, how's your friend though? Feeling better now?"

"A little", the hedgehog thought for a minute before delivering his answer, as baffled as the rest of the office at his comrades' ailment, to say nothing of the confusion, not to mention discomfort, Honey herself must have been experiencing, "she's stopped feeling so sick for one thing, and she's eating and drinking more, but at the same time I reckon she's due a bit of a break. Apart from that week off she had with her other half I can't remember her being out the office for any great length of time – she'll be after Snappys' job full-time any day now and everyone knows she's virtually part of the office furniture. Bonded too far, can't live if she strays too far from her desk", he looked up and flashed his housemate a dazzling, sarcastic smile, "bit like you and the sofa really". _Ooh you are so going to pay for that_; if this had been an ordinary day Julie would have responded with an oral blast that would have ripped apart any hope the black hedgehog had of defending himself, though as today was turning out to be anything but an ordinary day she felt there was no need; _after all, going by what I saw earlier he's going to be paying someone else with interest later on_;

"And you're one to talk about the sofa are you? You better have a spare can of oil for when those springs start squeaking again – I've been having a decent weeks' sleep up to now", knowing exactly what she was insinuating Shadow glared over the table at her at the same time as reach of his paper; before he'd so much as laid the edge of a finger on it however he found it pinned to the tabletop by one of the ex-Dark Legionnaires' hands, the strength of her augmented forearms more than enough to ensure he wouldn't be getting near it any time soon,

"Speaking of the settee though, you better go take a look before you get comfortable; there's something waiting there for you"; _that was close_; she'd come very close to letting her tongue slip and mentioning 'someone' there but thankfully Shadow appeared to be none the wiser, his puzzlement at such an announcement keeping him occupied,

"Really? Any idea what?"

"Nope, and none about where it came from either", that was a pair of, if not outright lies, at least well-embellished half-truths that the hedgehog nonetheless swallowed; it was all Julie could do to keep her gleeful smile in check until her flatmate was in the hallway – there were a couple of seconds' silence where she squirmed torturously for a resolution to this situation, then as a wild yell of panic echoed throughout the entire flat, Julie let herself go into a helpless fit of the giggles, just about managing to keep on her feet and begin heading unsteadily towards the hallway, trying to catch an eyeful of the main event spectacle.

XXX

_There!_; almost even before the door had swung open he'd been in motion, actions he'd used and powers he'd called upon a thousand times before heeding his summons in the blink of an eye but even then it wasn't enough. His quarry, despite being stunned at the sight of him and cowering from the ancestral forces he was calling upon, was still swift enough to take a picture of the action and interpret it as nothing good coming his way; _and how right you are sunshine_. Even as the last hint of ebony quill and flaming shoe disappeared around the doorframe with a startled yelp Sojourner was in his element, blood that linked him to the first guardian, the first both blessed and cursed with the touch of chaos and the destiny it had spelt out for him, singing in his heart and pulsing through his veins as his ghost-touch felt contact and contracted like a fist; something fell over with a thump and he began to drag his prey backwards, cursing inside as Shadow was still fighting his mental hold and managed to sang onto something, stopping him from achieving the goal the rest of the Brotherhood, the eldest member excepted, had tasked him with,

"No use fighting it Shadow, just let go", when it appeared the hedgehog didn't hear him he gave another hard yank, hearing his target moan in pain, "I can pull like this all night!"

XXX

For the first split-second he'd been utterly bewildered; Knuckles was here, but Knuckles was red, and since when had he lost so much weight? Only at the sight of what the echidna held in his hand and the dark scowl on his lips did the penny drop; with a cry of surprise Shadow had bolted for the door away from whichever member of the Brotherhood had tracked him down – right now he couldn't put a name to the face and didn't care much either way. The front door was invitingly close, just a spilt-second longer and he'd be away and no-one would catch him; something grabbed his ankle and he went down hard, all the air smashed out of his lungs and disorientated for a vital second. Shaking his head to clear out the cobwebs, the former ultimate life-form realised with a thrill of horror that he hadn't just fallen over, he was being dragged backwards as well; desperate, he threw himself to the side of the hallway and reached down, extending his arms down his stomach and grabbing the doorframe into the lounge, his last desperate ledge against the abyss he was staring into otherwise. There was sudden hard tug and his heart stopped as he lost his grip; only by the grace of the lord did he regain it, holding himself in place with a combination of his forearms and fingertips, Shadow braced himself for a tug-of-war – he was not to be disappointed,

"No use fighting it Shadow", air was forced groaning from his lungs as the grip squeezed his legs and lower body, "I can pull like this all night!"

"So", he gasped, not sure why he was saying what he was saying but going along with it anyway, "so I've seen". _It worked!_; the words struck home and for a second the shackles broke – before he could do much more than realise this fact though they were back on with a vengeance, though he had managed to lever slightly more of himself around the door in the fractional pause. If he could just keep it like this, gaining ground millimetre by painful millimetre…his spine froze as he felt a sudden, alien pressure on his fingertips; snapping his head around he beheld with horror-struck eyes Julie-Su smirking down at him, knelt by where he was clutching his last hope of salvation with her fingertips underneath his own,

"Go on then Shads", her voice was suddenly an unbearable taunt, her expression even worse as she nodded at where she quite literally held his future in her hands, "what's it worth I don't?"

"You do", he growled back; he knew as well as she did pleading was next to useless so he had to try and attempt something even more impossible – he had to scare her enough to make her back down, "and you won't live long enough to regret it".

To his unutterable surprise, he did it, he achieve the impossible; Julie shrank back from him, both hands clutching over her heart as though it had been punctured by his words,

"Shadow", her voice was ghostly, almost timid as the black hedgehog once more fought to keep Sojourner at bay, "I, I don't believe you think, you think I'd do that. To someone who was helpless, I'd just throw them to the wolves like that? Well I wouldn't", she crossed her arms, suddenly looking more cross than anything else and, somewhere at the back of Shadow's mind a red light started flashing; had he not been more pre-occupied with more pressing concerns he might have paid it a bit more heed but as things stood he didn't see the danger until it was too late, "not when it's more fun to make you chuck yourself in there first!" With that, and a swift movement forwards, the echidna lunged towards what had always been her original target, a wide grin splitting her lips as she felt the soft skin under her fingertips, followed a second later by Shadow shrieking and thrashing around for his freedom.

Though it was known only to a very select few that Shadow wasn't technically a hedgehog, or even a Mobian at all come to that, in the very strictest sense of the word, one aspect of his physiology he did share with most other members of his adopted species was an increased sensitivity in the region of his ears. To a greater or lesser extent all Mobians suffered or rejoiced in this boon-come-curse depending on circumstances, and right now in Shadow's eyes it was definitely one of those latter times. The way Julie was casually running her fingertips lightly along the ridges and tips of his small, pointed protrusions were utterly maddening, unbearably itchy but at the same time he couldn't stop them – to do that would mean letting go of the doorframe and she knew that as well as he did, hence the gleeful smile gracing her enraptured face as she continued her irksome assault. The ebony hedgehog was helpless, trapped between the smirking devil of his flatmate and the deep blue sea of the unknown fate Sojourner had planned for him; with his ears aflame as they were now he had just seconds to make a choice. He tried everything to stave off the inevitable; shaking his head violently, trying to twist his neck enough to let him rub the top of his skull against the wall, even attempting to spear Julies' teasing fingers with his head quills but all his plans came to naught; she'd caught him properly this time, there was nothing he could do.

The end when it came was brief; with a last desperate cry Shadow ripped his hands off the doorframe and set about scratching the residual itches from his earlobes, an expression of nirvanic ecstasy on his face as he did so; Julie guessed it wasn't there for more than a second before it, along with the rest of the black hedgehog, vanished around the doorframe as though sucked up the worlds' largest vacuum cleaner. She darted forwards on hands and knees, desperate to get a last glimpse of the action; her field of vision cleared the doorway just in time to see Sojourner, the echidna she'd let into her home a few hours ago and, she'd later discovered, the third-oldest in the Brotherhood of Guardians, reach down and snap his hand closed around one of the flatmates' flailing ankles, the small video of The Truth clutched tightly in his other paw. _With guardian powers I'm guessing this'll ache tomorrow_; with this in mind and a ringside seat to the action the former Legionnaire whipped her attention down to where Shadow, having finally rubbed the top of his head enough to be rid of her earlier torments, had got around to realising the predicament he was now in – he had just enough time to look terrified before the entire scene exploded into a world of green light.

_Wow_; shaking her head and blinking vigorously to try and dispel the after-images, Julie realised what must have happened at the same time as register the sudden eerie silence of the previous frenzied lounge; _so that's what Chaos Control looks like then? Interesting…_; it certainly looked like a novel way to travel – all she needed to do now was beg, borrow or steal one of the seven Chaos Emeralds from somewhere and she'd be able to hop from this drab little apartment to anywhere else on the globe. After a minute of daydreaming exotic locations she'd like to visit, ones with a proliferation of tropical beaches, sun and well-tanned, available lifeguards unsurprisingly top of the list, she shook herself and chuckled, perhaps a little abashedly as she realised one very simple truth; _well, I can go anywhere as long as I catch Shadow in a good mood. And judging by what just happened_; she looked once more at the lounge and whistled in amazement; it looked so serene and peaceful now, it would have been impossible to guess the life-or-death struggle that had just taken place; _that ain't gonna happen any time soon. Ah, so what?_; she shrugged again and pushed herself to her feet, idly wondering about dinner and, at the back of her mind, hoping privately that some of the supposed punishments Sojourner had informed her about in almost explicit detail really were just fiction for Shadows' sake; _he'll be fine in the end, he always is – come to that we always are too. And, no matter what he dreams up to try and get me back for this_; she knew him well enough to know he'd try, and she knew as well that chances were he'd succeed in the end; _I can look back and say it was worth it!_

Though she had no way of knowing it at the time, Julie was very soon to have reason to remember this last thought as Shadow, having landed along with Sojourner and immediately found himself pinned to the nearest wall by the combined mental strength of almost all the Brotherhood of Guardians, swore with the half of his mind that wasn't trying to come up with an impeccable excuse at very short notice that she was going to pay for dropping him in it like this.

XXX

As always Charmy's sense of timing was punctual in the extreme; not only had he arrived home while his dinner was still hot but, judging by the way the other three Mobians looking at him were just standing up from the table with empty plates in hand, he'd done so just as the others had finished eating. Striking while the iron was hot, the bee clapped his hands and pointed at Esprana,

"Right that's me done for the day; Esp, I know it'll only be for a few hours so I reckon it'd be a good idea for you to nip out to the shrine for a bit – there's no-one around and you really shouldn't stay inside all day, the fresh air'll do you the world of good".

"Umm", caught off-guard by her compatriots' sudden and decisive proclamation, the chameleon was left floundering for a minute before the weight in her hand registered again and she instinctively looked for the get-out clause, "hang, on, let me do the washing at least, it is my turn".

"I'll handle it", the bee breezed, calling on his natural affability to let this one go without a hitch at the same time as look a little more concerned for his team mates' sake, "listen, the washing's nothing – you've been cooped up in here all day with this pair, that'd drive me demented so I don't want to think what it's done to you. Get out there, go take on the world for a couple of hours; shelly and TGG can fill me in on anything important". For a second it looked like the chameleon would argue the point but in the end her shoulders slumped forwards resignedly,

"All right, I know when I'm out-argued. Can't say I wouldn't mind a few hours out, okay then", she stood up, the chair behind her creaking against the floor as the other two looked on, "I'll be back before it's too late. See you all then". Everyone watched on, two with distinct confusion and the other with unbearable frustration, desperate for the chameleon to be gone so he could let loose at last the news that was ionising a hole through his insides, as Esprana strode towards the exit and away down the stairs, inclining her head towards Charmy as she brushed past him. Every second ticked by ominously, tormentingly – even the actual sound of the teleporter firing up and relocating towards a completely different point on the map of Angel Island seemed to stretch into infinity before, abruptly, it ended, leaving the house still once more.

It was a silence that didn't last; almost before the two elder members of the Chaotix were aware of the exchange of personnel Charmy was between then and speaking in a rapid-fire burst, the words screaming from his lips like a barrage of wailing shells,

"Okay listen; I did a bit of digging and I think I've seen a bit of a way out of this mess – I spoke to Amy, she said she was a little unsure but…"

"Whoa, whoa", waving her hands in front of her Mighty tried to rein her over-excited team mate in a little, "cool it a touch speedy; slow down, take a deep breath and start from the beginning. What have you been up to, and has it been to do with Esp at all?"

"Yes, it was all to do with her", the bee replied after taking a deep, deep breath and trying to internally cool his spiralling heart rate; here in the thrill of actually being able to impart his good news he was feeling something akin to a panic attack, "right, I did some thinking in the shrine, that was the reason I turfed you out Vec, sorry about that", the crocodile merely shrugged before leaning in further, as desperate to hear the bees' discovery as the bee was to hear it heard, "and, took some time, but I eventually figured it out – who do we know's used to dealing with this sort of thing, who's actually going through a course specifically designed to cope with helping people like Esp make sense of the world gone mad?"

The silence seemed to stretch on as though time itself had ceased to exist but just before the bee thought he'd have to be the one to fill his compatriots in on his discovery there was a sudden gasp,

"Amy, of course", Mighty goggled across the table at him, the sudden discovery illuminating her mind as devastatingly as it had his a few hours ago, "she's going to be a councillor isn't she – brilliant Charmy!"

"Well", the bee almost glowed at the praise, the urge to blush growing ever stronger as he saw Vector dart his head downwards, dabbing with the edges of the tablecloth at what looked suspiciously like damp eyes, "it was just a case of getting somewhere quiet and putting two and two together. But anyway, I gave her a quick ring and, barring a few interruptions from you-know-who's housemate", Mighty in particular grinned at that one; _oh to have been a fly on the wall for that one_; "what she basically came up with was, er, it's not easy to explain, she said…"

"Jus' gi'us the best ya can Charm"; _this close to a breakthrough_; having spent the last couple of days running into brick walls and blind alleys in his own thoughts and ideas Vector was ready to feast upon any crumbs of good news he get his hands on – what Charmy seemed to be suggesting towards was a veritable banquet he could gorge himself upon; _and I don't know about you but I really wouldn't want to stand in front of me when there's an all-you-can-eat buffet on offer_; "tha's all we're askin'".

"Just as well 'cause it's all I can give you", the bee chuckled before turning more serious, his expression thoughtful as he tried to phrase his example right, "what she said was to give Esp something to aim at – I'm not a hundred percent but I reckon she means a goal to achieve, something to keep her mind off what's going on now and focus it on something she wants to get in the future. Now that's all well and good but, as you're probably now appreciating", the bee chuckled nervously, realising that his next words were coming true even as he spoke them; Vector in particular seemed to be going cross-eyed through thinking too much and Mighty was nibbling her bottom lip, as sure sign something was on her mind, "there's a bit of difference between knowing what you've got to do and actually doing it. Any ideas?"

The words, both of them, seemed to hang in the air around the kitchen, swirling through the nippy, still air like adders dancing in the spring time; together they wrestled and squirmed until both flew apart, banished away at a clap and a laugh from Mighty. The armadillo, amazingly, seemed to find something funny in the circumstances – as Vector and Charmy both watched on, she sank her face into her hands, shoulders heaving with mirth and giggles clearly filtering through the impromptu mask she'd clapped over her face as she swayed on the spot. Sharing a quick glance, neither of the other two Chaotix present wisely stayed quiet until she was done and her hands slid downwards, her eyes exposed under the rim of her shell as she looked from one to other of them, fighting down her sniggering long enough to remain coherent and speak,

"I, I don't know about you guys", the armadillo gasped, just holding on enough to force out the last of her speech before hysteria again overwhelmed her; _well it's either this or cry_; "but if there's someone in a tighter jam than us right now, I really wouldn't want to be them!"

Their perplexed expressions were the final, shattering straw; Mighty almost keeled off her seat as the truth she had seen in the situation made her howl even louder, not caring of the spectacle she was making of herself as she knew, on a very primitive level, that what she was doing now was making sure that the shards of ice and trauma still lodged in her very soul from the earlier, heart-rending acts a few scant days ago, were slowly, ever so slowly, being melted away. And as she curled up in her chair, almost screaming with laughter and hearing such unrestrained mirth slowly creeping across the table and infecting the other, she could only pray with whatever was left of her cohesive mind to pray with, that the same was happening to them.

XXX

The screen went blank and black with such suddenness it nearly cost Shadow control of his bladder; freezing sweat trickled achingly right the way down his backbone as he became painfully aware of the attention in the room slowly turning from the now-dead screen to himself, a dormant, lethargic predator becoming aware of fresh, wounded prey nearby and rousing itself to act. All six of the echidnas present turned to regard him, their expressions ranging from as stormy and black as the fur of his hide to outright tears of hysteria flooding down cheeks; in the end, his fist clenched so tightly around the remote he still held the plastic casing was starting to splinter, it was Thunderhawk who broke the deathly silence,

"Well then", unlike his normal bombastic booming, the echidnas' voice was a whisper so cold and sharp Shadow could only manage to whimper; the second-eldest in the Brotherhood regarded him as though he were a new and not-too-sturdy looking punch balloon, pointing at the video recorder with his free hand, the tape inside it a time-bomb that had just now gone off as far as the black hedgehog was concerned, "explain".

"I…", his mouth was dry, lips parched and all hopes of speech, of even a thought that might have spared him, were gone completely from his mind; his brain was in full hibernation mode, praying the irate Brotherhood of Guardians would spare enough of his body to re-inhabit when they were done with beating it to a messy pulp, "I…"

"Yes, you", Sojourner agreed, for once nodding in tandem with his father; the Truth his grandfather had revealed, it seemed, had proven one of the very few things they could possibly agree on, particularly as both had come out of it equally as badly, "anything else you'd like to say, or perhaps we could carve it on your tombstone for you!"

"Oh leave him be"; _thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou_; had anyone ever said he, the former ultimate life-form, would ever have been reduced to mentally babbling all the praises under the sun towards Athair of all Mobians he'd have called them deluded, but here he was doing exactly that as the currant guardians' insane great-grandfather hovered overhead, casting the black hedgehog into shadow, "I'm sure he had a good reason for doing it; if anything Locke I'm disappointed in you", the youngest of the current Brotherhood looked up at his name, a momentary flicker of surprise lighting his face before the ebon ocean he'd smothered every emotion under rose up to drown such a start, "you're supposed to have made Haven completely un-get-in-able but Shadow's done just that, and with a camera to boot. You must be very good at hiding though", the elder Mobian looked down on the Brotherhoods' impromptu guest with a kindly smile, "none of us ever even saw you, and I'd have thought my son and third-father would have been sensible enough to make sure they were in private before…"

"We were in private", Sabre roared before the incredulity of the rest of his family smashed into him; the medic promptly went red and tried desperately to rectify his mistake, "I mean, umm, at least, I was I'm sure, that's to say…how did you get that damn film made?" Luckily Shadow, having been thrown a lifeline under the guise of Athairs' madness, was able to prepare something like an answer this time – before he could speak, however, another voice oozed slickly into the fray, Locke speaking up to answer either his father or grandfather, the tone of his voice making it impossible to tell which he was addressing,

"If I were any judge, I would say that this film wasn't shot continuously; it's too jerky, and from too many angles for that. It has been spliced together, quite well I have to say, from a multitude of different camera that Shadow over there, I assure you, did not install in Haven".

"No, we already know who did that", Thunderhawk cut in irritably; _mark my words old man, the second I get you alone after this…_; "however, we also know who gave him the idea for this madcap scheme, oh, which reminds me – I expect you to rip out these aforementioned cameras before anyone else", the lavender guardian threw a nasty look Athairs' way, though as always it seemed to bounce off the flying echidnas' armour of madness, "gets it into their head to try and film a sequel of this nonsense". Locke turned on the spot stiffly, regarding his fifth-father with a casual eye, his words low and filled with promise,

"What you expect and what will happen will be two different things Thunderhawk", his older relative growled but before he could do much more, Locke diverted his attention to where Shadow was trying to slip away unnoticed in the press, "however; don't try to run Shadow, we'll easily track you down in here"; _ah yeah_; that was a small flaw in his plan of give-the-the-slip-then-run-like-hell; trapped where he was, in a sealed fortress several miles below the ground of Angel Island, the hedgehog could only turn back around to face his fate, Locke serving as the judge in this case before the jury of the rest of his family; _and I really don't want to think who the executioners' going to be_; "what you said is true to a degree. We do know you sold our believer leader the idea of filming us in our rather…less-flattering moments, now we want to know two things – why, and any regrets?"

As one the ancestors of the current guardian of the Master Emerald turned stony-faced to the accused, only to see him return their flint-hard glares with superb distain; the singular word Locke had spoke, coupled with a fortuitously-directed curse at that exact moment to a certain echidna who Shadow swore was going to cop it good for this latest prank if it was the last thing he ever did, had allowed the former ultimate life-form to formulate his answer, the answer he'd always known. Staring the dead-eyed guardian full in the face, Shadow answered his accusers with level deliberation, his voice cold as he spoke straight back at them,

"Why?" He smiled, a mirthless laugh on his lips, "well I'm going to assume you know I gave Spectre the idea behind this whole mess – I won't go so far as to claim credit for it, and in all honesty I didn't think he'd even consider going through with it".

"You really don't know my dad very well do you", Thunderhawk muttered to himself before raising his voice again, determined not to let this interloper steal his thunder and seize back the initiative, "still, you've not answered our question Shadow – why did you even put the idea into his head in the first place". A sly smile twisted the hedgehogs' lips just before he answered, his eyes unfocusing slightly as he access his memories, searching for the exact right words to phrase his rationale to these harshest of critics,

"I did it because Spectre told me something I very desperately needed to know; I suppose…", suddenly a little careless, he flipped one leg over the other and reclined back in his chair, the Brotherhood starting at his bold move just as he continued, "…I'd better start this whole thing at the beginning or it'll make no sense – fair enough. Pay attention you lot, I've said this often enough it's become boring, I don't want to have to repeat myself too often because your memories aren't what they used to be".

With that last backhanded insult Shadow procrastinated no longer; still no looking at any of the echidnas present, focussed totally on his own past, the former ultimate life-form told the tale of what felt like a lifetime ago; he never paused, did not have to answer any questions and, at his new audiences' insistence, even ran the tale to its conclusions, drawing gasps of almost admiration for his nerve as the Brotherhood finally understood and began to accept, even admire, the great consequences that their joint embarrassment had, in its own oblique little way, helped to create, for there was no way Shadow would have been able to spring the surprise he had on the home base of their ancestral foes without hearing first what Spectre had told him about the Legion and its current grandmaster, and paying the price the black echidna had demanded for imparting it.

XXX

_You know something_; what felt like half a lifetime later, Shadow found himself agreeing with the first thought that drifted into his idle mind as he surveyed the benign sense of wonderment now enrapturing his impromptu audience; _I think we might just have got away with it_. In truth it looked that way as, despite their earlier threats and protestations, the former guardians were to an echidna looking a lot less threatening than they had at the start of his story,

"So, umm", despite himself Shadow smiled; despite their century and some age gap the similarities between Knuckles and his sixth-father were unmistakable to anyone who knew the guardian well – they both even had the same habit of scratching the back of their heads when confounded by something, "that's, ah, that's quite a tale I'll grant you that".

"Strange that", Shadow regarded the lavender echidna with a lackadaisical smile, missing the flick of the eyes from another of the party and, in consequences, not noticing the party of guardians shrink from six to five as one echidna took his leave to act on his grandson's advice, "pretty much everyone I've told it to says about the same thing".

"And in all honesty I can't blame them", Thunderhawk agreed, looking around his family to be met with shrugs of agreement and muted whistles of admiration; as he turned back, however, Shadow felt his danger sense tremble slightly at the look of mischief in that impish, if slightly wizened, face, "mind you, I reckon I was right about something as well – this Julie-Su really must be a game girl if she's worth going to all that trouble for". _Ah yeah, her_; hearing his flatmates' name made the ebon hedgehog sit up straight as his recent memories came back on line; _well Hawk I tell you this much – the second I get home she's going to be fair game for all the trouble I can possibly think of!_

"She's something of the sort, though speaking of which", a sudden reminder that he didn't know the time chimed in Shadows' brain and his eyes fell to the watch he now habitually wore on his left wrist, conveniently leaving to the side the fact that this ornament had actually been a present for the aforementioned ex-Dark Legionnaire in the wake of thinking up new and ever more devious ways to pay her back for the hell she'd just put him through, "I need to get back sometime soon; oh no Sojourner", he held up a hand as the smallest of the guardians half-stood; the fifth-father of the Brotherhood was only just as broad in the shoulder as Shadow was himself, making his a complete waif by the standard of his species, especially when compared to his father, the pugilistic Thunderhawk, "please don't trouble yourself; someone just take me to the elevator and I'll run myself home".

Though it was meant to sound a polite gesture, and in truth Shadow was still feeling cautious enough to play every card that came his way to its full advantage when it came to pleasing the Brotherhood just in case the sudden good mood they were in evaporated and dumped him back at square one, the real reason he fancied such a late-night dash was as a few more precious minutes invaluable plotting time; after all, really, truly special plots of vengeance don't just spring out of nowhere – they need detailed, careful forethought and planning to be pulled off correctly and as far as Shadow was concerned right now only a scheme out the very top drawer would be enough to get himself back on level terms with Julie now. He thought for a minute he was going to get his wish as it looked like Sabre was about to heave himself to his feet; however, his hopes were dented somewhat when Locke sprang up and stilled his father with his hand before turning his void-like eyes in Shadows' direction. As he came under their scrutiny the black hedgehog shuddered despite himself – only one other Mobian he'd ever had the misfortune to cross paths with had ever been able to pull off the same sort of effect with a look alone, and even then Shadow had never actually seen his face when he'd done it.

"Wait, my, in fact our apologies Shadow; I fear in our anger we've been the very poorest of hosts", the echidna gave a slight chuckle at his own turn of phrase but, as always, the laughter on his lips curdled and died before it ever went near his eyes, "we've dragged you out here, detained you here all evening on the basis of accusations you've just proved to be groundless, and we've not even fed or watered you yet. Please", he stood to the side, beckoning the hedgehog to his feet, "allow us to make up for the latter at least".

"I…", in all honesty Shadow had been about to politely decline the invitation but, with the worst of all possible comic timing, his body betrayed him as his stomach gave a massive rumble, reducing his idea of being able to plead he wasn't hungry to ruins, "…think I might just do that Locke. Okay, which way to the kitchens". The former guardian merely smiled and, having seen Shadow stand up, beckoned him to follow at the same time as send a specific mental pulse around the room – distracted by his sudden hunger pangs, Shadow never saw the rest of the Brotherhood, after sharing a look, all rise up as one and follow the two of them out of the video room.

The first he knew of his uninvited escort was when he ran into them; having seen Locke throw open the kitchen door with a flourish, witnessed the blurry outline of an echidna in mid-flight ricocheting around the kitchen and adding ingredients to different-sized pans with a complete disregard for good taste and realised in an instant just how well set up he'd been, Shadow had tried to surreptitiously back out the way, Shadow found himself penned in to the punishment Locke had seamlessly arranged for him. Squirm as he might he couldn't slip through the cordon of guardians; then Athair, his chef hat once more in pride of place over his normal rainbow bangles, had spotted him and there had been no escape – as he slowly trudged towards the table with the cook excitedly yammering on about what exactly he'd used to create the abominations now glooping and simmering malevolently on the table before him with the rest of the Brotherhood sniggering silently in the background, Shadow could find only a solitary crumb of comfort as he sat at the table, just before Athair almost accidentally garrotted him with a napkin; _Julie, your payback for this is going to be biblical!_

XXX

In the cool confines of the innermost sanctum of the temple, the lone warrior trained in silence.

This, at least, was one area where the past and the present could touch; as Espio she had found a modicum of comfort in the many and shifting forms of the katas and now, as Esprana, the same was still true; as he hands cut through the air and her feet shifted noiselessly across the sandy floor the chameleon was at peace, her mind liberated from her stresses by concentration on the patterns she knew by heart. Thinking and not having to think at the same time, a kind of meditation in motion – here Esprana was at peace to focus on other, more important matters; her mind moving faster even than her body could manage, she tried to think two moves ahead again but, in this, she was frustrated for a time. Instead she forced herself to think of a more constructive idea rather than boil in her own impatience; as Charmy had said, this wasn't something she could hurry – there as no margin for error this time, she had to get it right or she, and more than that, the Chaotix as a whole could be thrown into jeopardy once more.

_I know I am Esprana now_; she span in a complete circle, her eyes half-closed as she scanned the area for multiple imaginary opponents; _but I don't know what that means yet – I'm not sure who Esprana is exactly. Espio on the other hand, him I know all about – more to the fact, so does everyone else_; her discomfort at this fact was expressed as a ripple, barely discernable, through her otherwise flawless stance, though she corrected such an imperfection with her next decision; _the others, except the Chaotix, know me only as Espio, so that's who I'll have to be around them. Around the rest of the Chaotix though, around the people I know I'm safe with_; and she was safe with them – she had known that ever since she'd woken in the morning and found herself guarded even whilst dreaming by the others; _I can start to grow and figure out who I want Esprana to be – then when I've grown enough, when the time is right_; she span, her leg rising, the final blow in this kata swinging in tandem with the end of her train of thought;_ I'll get rid of the mask I don't neeeiiikes!_

The sudden impact on the ball of her foot almost made her take off in shock; off-balance, she only just managed to keep her feet as she scrambled away from the phantom opponent suddenly solidified before her; in the darkness she could see only a silhouette in the Master Emeralds' light. Wrestling down her shock she forced herself to stay calm, keep her joints and movements fluid in the forthcoming fight, when the newcomer chuckled and spoke,

"Lost in the pattern"; _hang on_; over her spiralling heartbeat the chameleon sensed recognition in that deep, bass voice, "been there and done that before". Finally putting face to name, Esprana peered forwards just as the other Mobian stepped fully into the light, his shadow looking slightly off-kilter for some reason,

"Thunderhawk? Is that you?"

"Yes, that's the one, with someone else in tow I might add", her confusion only grew, peppered with a sudden fear as she realised she'd been using the wrong voice in her last question, though thankfully the echidna didn't seem to have realised as he heaved his burden off his shoulder – as Esprana gawked after once more recognising a familiar face, he spoke again, "take the night off, it's on me. I could do with a night under the stars again, and up to me it was to make sure he got home in one piece so", he nudged the prone shape with the toe of his boot, eliciting a low groan, "home he shall get, if you'd do me the favour?" After a second of making sure she had her facts straight, the chameleon wisely decided to play it honest and, after stooping to help the prone Mobian to his feet, she shuffled off towards the teleporter at the same time as hear Thunderhawk take a seat before her, all the time wondering what Shadow was doing getting himself mixed up with the Brotherhood of Guardians again, and where on earth that foul smell was coming from.

XXX

A few minutes later, the rest of the Chaotix having hastily assembled following the teleporter fizzing into life again and fearing the worst for Espranas' sake, Shadow was being propped up at their kitchen table, still looking traumatised for a reason none of them could quite figure out, least of all the one in who's lap the black hedgehog had been so succinctly dumped,

"…so there's not much else I can do but go along with it", Esprana wrapped up as much as she could before looking across at her new guest with a bewildered shrug, "Thunderhawk didn't look like he was in the mood to do much explaining".

"And he's even worse than Knuckles when it comes to persuasion; in fact the only one worse than him's his father", Charmy chipped in before hearing the kettle boil into life – before he could react to it through, Mighty was there with mugs in her hands, allowing him to go after the real root cause of the confusion, "so, guess that means it's up to you pal". _Huh?_; not really in the mood for conversation, or in fact anything that required him to do much more than concentrate on the awful gymnastics his stomach was having to perform to get the ungodly creations it'd been forced to consume processed promptly, Shadow only stirred dully at the mention of his name – it took Mighty, leaning across the table with a skilfully deployed cup of coffee in hand, to point it out to him,

"What's going on Shads; not like you to have much to do with Knucks' in-laws. And, sorry to be blunt", she drew back hastily, wrinkling her nose as she received a full-strength blast of halitosis as Shadow turned his head towards her, "but you definitely need some gum or something because your breath stinks!"

"I'll take your word for it", the ebon hedgehog mumbled, automatically swallowing a mouthful of life-giving coffee and shuddering, the sharp tang of his favourite drink not conducive to reducing the aftertaste of Athairs devilish desert, "it's a long story, what happened; just take it from me that as far as the Brotherhood's concerned, revenge is a dish best served cold. By Athair. In three courses", he shivered, somehow reliving every spoonful of the greenish mulch as he recalled the last and most disgusting dish of the lot, "With lashings of ice-cream and mint sauce mixture".

As the Chaotix either tried to look sympathetic or simply cracked up laughing Shadow, past caring what anyone else thought on the subject, finished off his impromptu speech with one on the most honest statements he'd ever issued,

"That echidna maniac truly is the king of cordon bleuuurrrgh!"

A/N: But we love him anyway! Bit of a lighter note this chapter, but what can Shadow cook up for revenge on his flatmate? Will Esprana keep the pot boiling on her plans to re-invent herself? And has Knuckles let Rouge stew enough to force her hand on his mysterious confession, or will she jump out of that frying pan? Okay, I'll stop now…


	12. Chapter 12 Differing Revelations

Chapter 12 – Differing Revelations

Chapter 12 – Differing Revelations.

A/N: Hello, hello all – sorry it's been a while but I have been one busy chap recently. In fact this looks set to continue for the rest of this year and possibly beyond as well, so updates are going to be fewer and farther between I'm afraid – sorry about that but I will try I promise. Still, up until then, the reviewers to thank:

SM - Thanks for the review; I do like writing about the Brotherhood as a whole, they're just the perfect send-up of a uniquely dysfunctional family, albeit one with a lot of snazzy special effects up their collective sleeves.  Hope you enjoy this latest chapter and hope to post a new chapter before the year's out.

_Something to aim at…_

As they had for the past couple of days, and as he had been for about the same time come to that, Vector heard those words echo in his mind and shook his head as though trying to shoo off a persistent fly. Since Charmy had come home and spilt his guts about the results of his latest and, the crocodile was forced to concede, absolutely inspired brainwave, the leader of the former detective team had thought of little else save a new imperative, a new mission to complete and the sooner the better; _for my sanity if nothing else – this is getting annoying_. The crocodile gave a bad-tempered grunt of annoyance as he realised just how true that last statement was, politely inclining his head in apology to the young couple whose trolley he'd nearly broadsided with his own; his body was operating on autopilot through the weekly shop while his mind was in a completely different ballpark altogether. Absent-mindedly he brought the list up to his eye-level again and scanned through the words without taking anything in, all the meaningless squiggles of ink blurring and merging together into ever more bizarre and useless symbols as he trudged on, the shopping trolley before him randomly filling with products as and when he liked the look of them rather than for any practical purposes.

On and on, through the kaleidoscopic maze of aisles, the endless runs and tunnels flanked with brightly-coloured packages and parcels that seemed to stretch on to infinity; the journey was so long and, due to his complete inability to focus on anything beyond the words playing back endlessly in his head, repeated so many times that Vector felt himself completely shattered by the time he finally staggered towards the neat line of tills, reasonably sure he had at least some of what his household needed to hold itself together through the week. _And anyway_; he shrugged as he reached for his wallet, too wrapped up in his thinking to notice the winsome smile the cashier sent his way, the echidna almost certainly piqued with interest as to the strange manner of beast that had rolled up to her work station; _if anything is in short supply, we can Just send Charmy around here, he'll get it done in no time. Or Mighty, if nothing else shelly's focussed enough to make a good job out of this pig's ear_. His thoughts were interrupted by a meaningless drone in his ears; Vector ripped some notes out of his wallet, too far gone by almost three days of solid work and worry to care about manners or working out the change he was due,

"Yeah, I got it; 'ere", without looking he thrust the cash over the counter, looking around for something to distract himself from the headache he could just feel forming at the back of his mind.

And what he was looking for, had always been looking for in a sense, jumped off the back of the aisle end it had been stuck to and slapped him hard around the chops.

XXX

It had been a typically average, in fact downright boring day as far as Peai-Go was concerned; okay she liked normality and a good working routine as much as the next echidna but sometimes she'd have just loved a little more excitement in her life than just being stuck behind the same boring counter in the same boring shop day-in, day-out. She'd gotten her hopes up when the stranger had appeared, even been so stupid as to rush through the last few items for her earlier customer to make sure her station would be clear for when he arrived, but as always the only thing such forethought had landed her with was a bruised ambition. Far from the relief in something a bit exotic she'd been hoping for, the giant green scaly thing who'd rudely just shoved a handful of crests in her face was just as bad as some of the regulars, in fact in some ways he was worse; she could barely make out any coherent words through the thickness of both his jaws and his accent. Sighing, Peai set about prising some of the jumbled current free from his fingers, shuddering as the rough feel of whatever counted as his skin brushed even through the fabric of her glove; _yeesh, must be like wear a suit made of sandpaper all day_; before counting off the amount he'd given her and working out the relevant change. _In fact_; Peai didn't normally think of herself as malicious but she'd had a lousy day up to now and this guy's generally abrasive conduct had just rubbed her too much up the wrong way; _here you go pal – back just the way you like it_; with that thought finished, she slid the handful of shrapnel coins back along the counter to him, the currency clinking sadly together as it was shoved roughly into a forlorn little pile, waiting for its owner to scoop it up impatiently and be on his way.

It had actually been sat there for a couple of seconds before its former owner, finally realising something was amiss with the picture, jerked out of her normal rhythm and, quickly catching sight of her former customer scurrying – no, that was the wrong word, someone that tall and with that much of a stride didn't so much scurry as make those in his path do it for him to clear his way – spluttered the first words that popped into her head at his retreating back,

"Hey wait, you forgot your change!"

In actual fact he'd forgotten his groceries as well but that was slightly beside the point; as far as Peai was concerned she'd done the right thing in focussing on the money first, but at the same time her words looked to have fallen on deaf ears. He was still moving away from her, apparently unaware of both her shout and the attention it had generated in other paying customers, until he stopped dead as suddenly as he'd started moving, dropping into a slight crouch to scrutinise something small and bright pinned to the side of the aisle nearest the sliding door entrance and exit to the place, the 'what's-on wall' as it was sometimes known to the staff. Quite who had coined the phrase Peai would never know, but to her it seemed an accurate enough description to be getting on with; basically the butt end of the dual aisle set up provided enough of a free poster board for any local club or charity to pin little notes on, such as reminders of forthcoming events or open days – basically, 'what's-on wall' showed information to generate interest, the interest that was the life-blood of any small, not-for-profit organisation trying to keeps its head above water by attracting new members. _And unless I'm very much mistaken_; trying to crane her neck back to see what it was the green beanpole was reading, Peai paused just long enough to flash her waiting queue of customers an apologetic smile, grateful beyond measure to see the two or three waiting customers exchange accepting, if reluctant, shrugs and sighs; _one of those little events just found itself another member. Hmm, wonder which one…oh_; she blinked as the guy turned back around again, striding back the way he'd come; _looks like I might get an answer to that one_;

"'Ey doll", whatever it was he'd picked up, the echidna thought, it had done wonders for his voice and general state of mind; he sounded almost Mobian the way he was talking now, "lissen, y'mind if I borrow this a minute – fergot me notepad an' there's some info 'ere I need". Peering forwards over the counter, the check-out girl Vector had barely noticed up until this point squinted at the note he held before shaking her head and shrugging,

"That one? Nah, go ahead, been up there for a few weeks now, and I'm sure we've got another one kicking about somewhere". Hearing the news made Vector grin for the first time in almost a week as he slipped the small piece of paper into his pocket; remembering where he was and seeing the reaction such an expression exacted, however, made him desist; _damn, gotta remember this ain't Station Square – most of these echidnas can't tell if I'm smiling or preparing to take a chunk outta them_;

"Ah, sorry 'bout that – me smile ain't me strongest feature", the crocodile apologised sheepishly, a little more confident as he reached for his bag and the girl, Peai something-or-other by what he could see of her nametag, cautiously moved back into the ground she'd retreated from post-exposure to the deadly beam of a crocodilian grin, "same fer allo'us really – us crocs neva get it easy, jus' our luck". The echidna cocked her head as she tentatively prodded his change forwards again, snatching her hand away as he absent-mindedly scooped it up with a well-practised swooping motion,

"Sorry, come again? Croc?"

"Croc, crocodile; yers truly, in other words", Vector filled her in, jerking a thumb at himself before making his mind up after a last look at her appearance and the note of juvenile curiosity in her latest question; _nah – echidnas might be hard to age right but I reckon she's a bit too young_; "tell ya more some other time, righ' now I'm 'oldin' up the line. Later Peai". With that and a wave of his large scaled hand, the palm, she noticed, a lot lighter than the back, the unusual Mobian departed, the main door a second later marking the last trace of his presence with its typical swooshing noise.

_Wow_; following his trail with his eyes Peai suddenly found herself having to fight down a little bit of a blush; _I reckon he was checking me out for a minute there_. She wasn't sure if she should have felt disgusted or flattered by the attention from what was, brutally honestly, a quite hideous creature, but overall once he'd snapped out of whatever stupor he'd been in, the crocodile; _think I've got that bit right at least_; had been quite a talkative customer. Quite what her other half might have thought about the whole eyeing-up thing she dared not guess, though what Fara didn't know wouldn't hurt him, and anyway it wasn't like her oddest customer of the day was anything like the first to be fooled by her slight figure and winsome face belying her thirtieth season in the world. As she reached for the next basket, finally tearing her attention from where the strangers' path had led him, Peai was certain of one thing that let a smile creep back over her face – the previously ordinary today had just graduated into the realms of extremely extra-ordinary with honours and aplomb.

XXX

Concrete whistled past under his boot soles, the new paper burning a hole in his pocket as he glided through and around the crowd almost without effort; walking with his head down and course of action as straightforward as a ramrod, the head of the Chaotix strode towards his home uncaring that he'd made a hash of the shopping – as far as he was concerned that would go hang for today. All that mattered now was making it back to his front door, battering it down and getting his point across to Esprana; finally he'd glimpsed it, the answer to her, and in an oblique way, his problem at the same time – with this singular masterstroke Vector had provided both his team mate with a much-needed social outlet and his guilty conscience some much-needed rest. He could see her reaction to his sudden genius so clearly in his minds' eye not being able to see it real time was a torture; such was the clarity of his mental picture that he could see everything, every tiny detail, even down to the way the image of the kitchen wall would enlarge as the pupil of her eyes dilated with shock, how much her lips would curl upwards by when she realised what his discovery meant for her, how much she'd weigh, how her body would feel as she sprang upwards, forwards, liberated at last into his waiting, welcoming arms, the roughness of her hard caress over his scales, the intoxicating sweetness, an elixir as enrapturing as any dream, of her kiss.

Vector stopped dead, the mental equivalent of an icy shower drenching his sudden, unbidden fantasy; shuddering at the phantom cold and leaning on a post to help steady himself and stop panting like a dog that had just run a marathon, the crocodile hastily reasserted his self control; _now is not the time to be getting feelings like that. She's still Esp at the moment – going in there now all touchy-feely is only going to mix her up worse than ever, and anyway, even if you did, what good would it do? She'd never react like you'd just imagined, she's just not that sort of person…_

…_be good if she was though wouldn't it?_

Despite his self-flagellation he smiled; he was honest enough with himself to realise, if not quite accept fully yet, that yes, since he'd found out the other reptile in the Chaotix was at the most basic heart of the matter an eligible partner for him, he'd never quite thought about her in the same light – try as he might to act otherwise to ease her mind, Esprara and Espio were never going to be one and the same again, and likewise he'd never be able to treat them identically again. It was also true that fairly recently, an observation Charmy had once made had been playing more and more on his mind, and more and more he was seeing it to have more merit than he'd originally credited it with; _the reason might be you…Espio's always been a bit different with you around – it's all true enough, and it makes sense_; that last clause was always the important one – having lived as he had by his wits for so long Vector was loathe to go against a gut feeling and this time, luckily, his digestion was gurgling away contentedly at the conclusions his head had reached. _Still though_; the crocodile shook himself down briefly before moving on, his self-lecture almost over as he picked up the pace again, still eager to deliver his news despite stepping over the line as he had; _as I said before, no point rushing in like Charmy in a candy store – this one, perhaps more than anything else I've ever dealt with_; and, after a seconds' reminiscing, he realised it was certainly true and nodded at his own mnemonic reasoning; _this is going to require tact, delicacy and a whole shed-load of damned good luck!_

XXX

The door jangling open made Mighty swivel an ear in its direction; realising who it was from the noise being made as much as anything else the armadillo tore her attention away from the letter in her hand and called a greeting,

"Hey Vec, got your batteries here".

"Tails gone has 'e?"

"Yeah, it was a flying visit", she admitted, nodding at the crocodile as he bustled into the kitchen and dumped the bags in his hand on the table, "I'd barely opened the door before he was back out of it shouting goodbye – you know sometimes I swear he's more uptight about Kneecaps than Lara is".

"Wouldn' surprise me", Vector admitted with a shrug, "ya know well as I do 'e's serious as a'eart attack 'bout things like this, and look on the bright side"; _tell me more_; seeing the smile flitting across those immense jaws the armadillo paid a little more attention at the same time as she fought not to chuckle in kind at Vectors' sudden diagnosis, "more coffee creams 'e fills 'er majesty up wi' less chance there is of 'er bitin' our 'eads off next time we get things a bit skew-iff". That did make her laugh, though it was a snort of derision rather than mirth as Mighty folded her hands in front of her on the table,

"Vector, there's 'a bit skew-iff' and then there's getting the wall and ceiling colours mixed up; honestly", she pressed on mercilessly as the crocodile turned his shoulder towards her; denied as he was the ability to blush, this was Vectors' standard reaction to embarrassment, "who paints a room with blue walls and a green ceiling – it was supposed to look like fields and the sky you muppet".

"A'right, a'right", the crocodile threw up his hands at it all, "not my fault I'm in cloud cuckoo land most o'the time is it, what wi'you lot drivin' me t'distraction every five minutes. Anyway, Esp about, an' wha's the Big fella after – if 'e wants ya next weekend ferget it".

_Sorry to bust your bubble girl but there's no way me and Knuckles can tackle that monster on our own – we just need you there_; that much was certainly true – having seen the toadstool king of the woods Charmy had immediately christened Mush-zilla Vector had shuddered at the thought of trying to remove the gargantuan fungus even with Mightys' help; without her there was just no way it was going to happen period. Just from the way her face fell he knew he'd hit the nail right on the head and he was sorry for that; despite his good-natured grumbling at the fact she skipped more weekends than he'd had hot diners, he was nothing but over the moon for the fact his team mates' romance was prospering so well. Despite the fact the armadillo was usually completely away with the fairies for the first night after returning from Bigs' swampland home, the work she put in for at least a fortnight afterwards more than made up for it; however this time it just wasn't destined to be. To her credit though the armadillo tried to put a brave face on it as, sucking down a deep breath, she simply pulled open one of the drawers of the kitchen table and pulled out a notepad, her other hand already ferreting around in her pocket, looking for a pen that still wrote legibly,

"Ah well, just have to arrange it for some other time; eel season lasts at least for the next month or so", she stated matter-of-factly before suddenly straightening as though recalling something; setting her pen and pad down for a second she turned to look up at him, "oh, sorry Vec, you were looking for Esprana?"

Just the mention of the chameleons' real name made his spine tingle but he held his outward composure, folding his arms even as he tried to shake the tremors of joy from the tip of his tail. Acting as though it could wait even if doing so felt like a small sun had flickered into life inside his heart, the crocodile wafted a hand idly before inclining his head towards the neatly-folded square of paper that now lay discarded at the armadillos' left hand,

"Ah, can wait fer'a minute; 'ow's yer other 'alf, anythin' much 'appenin'?"

"Not with him exactly", Mighty answered after a minute, picking her letter back up and scanning it with the corner of her eye, "his sisters have done okay though; had a really good Christmas and seem to be going through school okay, even if the idiots running the damned place still haven't changed their minds about cats having to wear gloves", that reminder made Vector rumble threatening in his throat; though normally so slack he'd have made a beach full of surfers moan about how hard their lives were, he'd taken enough stick in his life to know what it was like to be unfairly pinned on the wrong side of the law and be forced to rail against it, "but still, apart from that it's all going swimmingly". Just as suddenly as it had appeared, his anger was snuffed like a candle in the face of Mighty's unintentional quip,

"Jus' as well yer not goin' then really; I've seen what yer like in th' pool"; _ouch, that was uncalled for_; the armadillo tried and half-succeeded in turning a basilisk glare his way as he changed tack rather abruptly, "still, funny as it is t'joke 'round yer quite right; where's the wall-crawler at?"

"Up in her room", the armadillo spoke half over her shoulder, the rest of her attention swinging back to regard her letter again, "she and the buzzer finished clearing out the loft, reckon she found something she likes up there – I've not seen her since they crept down and had a shower".

"Ah righ' well I'll get meself sorted out then; later Might, want me t'read yer answer later?"

"Yeah, if you don't mind"; _have I ever minded?_; the crocodile chuckled a little as once more this scene played out, same time it always did when the armadillo had to respond to Big's letters; it was reassuring to know some things really were timeless.

It had started the first time Mighty, having been deluged almost fortnightly with letters from her partner on the world below, had wanted to write a response and send it back on 'by morning post' – the impromptu codeword for the Tornado when its pilot was staying the night at Lara-Le's. However, as the armadillo had gradually admitted after several false starts involving an excess of swear-words and a small mountain of scrunched up paper, she'd never really written a proper letter before, and her spelling wasn't really up to scratch, especially for the big words. Luckily Vector had easily been able to trawl through the local markets to dig up an old copy of an encyclopaedia for her to use for reference, and he'd offered to lend a hand by proof-reading her first drafts and suggesting improvements to the texts. Though initially a little sceptical Mighty had fallen for the new system after a mere hours' work provided her with what she'd wasted half a day trying to achieve alone; that first letter had led to a firm traffic of correspondence between Angel Island and Mystic Ruins, Tails acting as a handy channel of high-speed communication between the two partners. Though she'd improved no end the armadillo always felt it best to run it through her spellchecker of a team mate, always smiling as she remembered the answer he'd given her when she'd originally asked how he'd got to be so proficient at writing; _who do you think used to draw up our contracts all the time when we were trying to scrape by as detectives – I tell you, P.I work ain't just about running around on the trail of the bad guy, it's a lot of mind-numbingly dull work with a few brief spikes of excitement to make up for it_.

Smiling at the memory Mighty barely heard the door behind her close, and before she could recognise the fact she was alone in the kitchen again after such a phantom show had run its course she was lost in the present; reading once more from the letter Mighty half-closed her eyes; _denied this week Big, but you know what they say_; she shivered almost, as though the looming personage of her boyfriend was in the room with her even now – with the semi-trance she was in and his letter in her hand, Mighty was never alone again, especially not now as she breathed in, imagining she could smell woodland flowers, and fresh fish cooking on a slow, savouring fire; _absence make the heart grow ever fonder, if that can ever happen between you and me now._

XXX

Though she was once more in her room, and this had been pointed out rather sharply earlier in the day, Esprana was sure that the rest of the team, and by extension herself, knew that this time her semi-isolation wasn't due to some self-flagellating, false belief; it was more to do with the fact that she just wanted a brief few days in her own company, sorting out her own head as much as anything else – surely, she reasoned with a smile, half-closing the book she'd been leafing through, sorting out her own head had to be easier than trying to sort out everyone else's. Well, that was the theory at least; she was certain she was going to get her options sorted out in front of her and logically shuffle through them one at a time, eventually picking out the optimum scheme as far as she was concerned; _I will, I'm going to do just that…right after I finish this chapter._

Shaking her head she gave a slight laugh, nervous it was true and barely loud enough to be heard true, but even that was a massive improvement on what would have been permitted earlier – slowly but surely the frozen fortress she had buried her heart in was thawing under the soft spotlight of the rest of the Chaotix and, perhaps even more importantly, her own sea change of direction. More than anyone Esprana knew that she had to be the one to do this – only she could shed the cocoon that had protected her in an earlier, more terrifying age; she had to blow the trumpet notes to chase off the everlasting funeral march Espio had trampled around her soul, no-one else could do that for her. _And I am going to do that, no matter how long it takes_; that was her certainty now – in the face of all the potential changes that she now faced as she stood at the crossroads of her life, that was her solid, tangible walking stick; _Espio is gone, history, I'm sick of him and it's time to stop hiding behind him. There's a new girl in town partner so you got two choices_; her eyes straying down again to the pages in her hand the chameleon felt a smile slip onto her face and flipped her hand up as though flicking the rim of a low sombrero out of her vision; _go for your horses, or go for your gun!_

At that point reality violently interjected on the world conjured up by the words of the little old and worn paperback in her minds' eye; the sharp rap on her bedroom door made her jump as though a six-shooter bullet had whistled past her ear. The heart she had once been so proud to keep locked away in the unreachable prison of Espios' breast now hammered away like a steam piston, only the fact she had to breath in the air had let out in an uncontrolled gasp salvaged her pride by preventing her screaming. _What the…?_; only as the knock came again, a little more urgent this time, was she able to unscramble her turbulent thoughts and, finally recalling the very basic rudiments of good manners, answer her impromptu guests' insistent knocking,

"Umm, yes", the words tripped over her tongue and she had to repeat herself, trying to throw off the idea that such a failing represented a weakness she should loathe that nagged the back of her mind insistently, "sorry, who is it?"

"Me; mind if I come in?"

"Depends who 'me' is", the chameleon attempted to quip; _hmm, might need to work on the delivery but I think it was okay in essence_; "sure thing Vec, come on in". Rolling half onto her back and looking over her shoulder she watched as the door swung inwards, the space filled with the form of the crocodile as he hunched over as he crossed the threshold – in a house designed for echidnas there wasn't a doorway in the house that hadn't been christened by Vector's forehead slamming into it at least once. Wised up by both pain and experience now, however, it was only in his more distracted moments that he let his guard down and paid for it with a straight wood bar right to the noggin; as he stood to his full height in his team mates' new bedroom Vector stretched up and yawned before answering,

"Me's sumone 'oo's been wi'ya up 'til now so I reckon y'outta know 'oo me is", he said somewhat sternly, letting up only when he saw her eyes roll up at the lameness of his quip, "and any'ow, righ' this minute me's the guy 'oo's gotta question fer ya; what's yer plan fer next Monday night?"

_Next week?_; as she had been living minute to minute and hour to hour for the past couple of traumatic days, Esprana hadn't giving any consideration to the abstract concept Vector was proposing; _put bluntly – not got a Scooby_. Surprise and sudden thought having robbed her of speech for a second the chameleon was reduced to body language to get her point across, though the way Vector almost pounced on her slight shrug suggested she'd made her point.

"Righ'; well I'm glad 'bout that 'cause o'this", with a whip of his hand and a flourish that would have turned a professional magician greener than he was in envy, the crocodile snapped something out of his pocket and offered it out to her. Flopping on her back before kipping up as she'd trained Esprana flipped up to her feet easily, the bouncing and rocking of the bedsprings under her feet a guilty pleasure as she snagged the little square of red paper from her team mates' fingers, trying to read his face and garner a clue as to what his game was his time. As always his scales swallowed every trace of his intentions; forced to rely on option two the chameleon flicked her eyes down, her expression swiftly morphing from consternation to surprise, then to outright shock as she began to take in what the thick bold letters and little symbol could mean for her in the future.

XXX

Despite his outward composure Vectors' stomach was churning like a butter mill aboard a cruise liner; the butterflies in his stomach was writhing around and morphing into snakes as he watched the chameleon in front of him standing still as stone, only her eyes moving as she scanned the piece of card he'd handed her. Despite his attempts to contain himself he was certain his external aura of excitement was all but striking sparks off the walls – he was so desperate for this to work, for that slip of paper to be the spark that set Epsranas' engine alight and sent her roaring down the path of the new life that was waiting for her to blaze down its highway, that even he didn't know how he kept his face so stony, his body so tightly shackled to the floor with such an expression of supreme off-handedness chiselled into its features. The air that whistled through his teeth as his team mate finally lowered the paper sounded to his own ears like a steam boiler letting off the pressure and he cringed; his thankfulness that Esprana didn't appear to have noticed was unbounded,

"Hmm", for a last second she regarded the paper in her hand with a critical eye, "never thought of that Vec, in fact I've only ever really trained on my own, same way I've only ever done everything else really".

"Ah, don' say that", the crocodile told her, on tenterhooks as she inadvertently strung him along for just a little bit longer; it was a torture he couldn't bear and in a rush he simply had to deliver himself from it, "any'ow, ya goin' fer it?"

"Yeah", how Esprana missed the noise of his soul singing out wonderful psalms of joy and praise to the rest of creation in general he had no idea but, on the whole, he guessed it was a good thing she did, if only because she'd never let him live such an emotional outburst down, "might as well give it a spin; I never really do anything Monday nights. In fact", her legs shot out from under her and she bounced on the bed itself, speaking as Vector bobbled in her vision for a minute before her momentum was killed off, "I never really do anything any night of the week".

"Well this'll 'elp change that", Vector assured her; he was tempted for a minute to sit next to her but resisted the urge in case it made her feel uncomfortable, "just saw it when I were down the town, thought it'd be righ' up yer alley. 'Ere", his attention was arrested by something else he'd only now, released as he was from the worry of the chameleon rejecting his offer of a suggestion for her spare time, just noticed, "what'cha readin'?"

Knowing what he was looking at without even thinking Esprana sniggered a bit; _not like they're difficult to spot is it – they're the only splash of colour this carpet's got, unless you count that little stain over there where Charmy kicked over a pot of green tea in our first week_;

"Heh, found them when we were cleaning the loft – Charmy and I that is?" Vector's face split into a grin even as he tutted semi-fastidiously,

"An' 'ere was Muggins thinkin' yer'd actually get 'round t'some actual cleanin'? Shoulda known betta, least of all when the buzzer were c'ncerned". Marginally affronted by this casual slander, the chameleon snorted before responding tartly,

"And we did; clean as a whistle up there now, especially compared to what it was. But no, you're a bit right", she relented a touch as the crocodile folded his arms and raised a theoretical eyebrow at her sceptically, "we'd just got up there and the first thing I hear is an 'oh, cool' – turns out he had these when we were all living downstairs, you remember Vec?"

"Oh yeah"; _like I could ever forget_; "mostly I 'member bein' 'ungry and cold a lotta th' time – sorry Esp", he apologised as he caught her eye and realised she was trying to be serious – suitably recompensed by such remorse, the chameleon carried on where she'd left off,

"He got these out that dime-and-a-bit store we knew, in town, near the old pawnbrokers"; _that did the trick_; Vector never forgot places that paid cash the chameleon knew, masking a smile as she saw his eyes light up at the reminder, "the girl behind the counter must have had a soft spot for low-flying annoyances and kept them for him; he got the last in the set just before we made the trip up here full-time". Curiosity piqued, the crocodile reached down and scooped up the book that rested on the top of the pile of half a dozen or so stacked neatly by the head of the chameleons' bed; taking in the picture of a man in the saddle with a six-shooter in one hand, a lasso in the other and a moustache Dr Eggman himself would been hard-pressed to better straddling his top lip, he read the title of the well-worn paperback with mild interest,

"Rawshire Rides Out", he shrugged before replacing the novel atop its little stack, "didn' think 'e were a fan o'the Old West?"

"You know him, he'll read pretty much anything that sits still long enough to be read", the smaller reptile reminded him before carrying on with her story, "but anyway, he managed to get all six after rooting around for the better part of half an hour – he's determined, I'll give him that – and he offered them to me".

"An' you said yeah?" _Oops_; the look on the chameleon's face alone made him want to bite his tongue off; he could virtually see the shutters coming down, everything that could be hurt being retracted behind the familiar shield all because of two ill-chosen words delivered in the wrong tone,

"Obviously, otherwise they wouldn't…"

"I mean", Vector worked frantically to correct his mistake, cursing himself mentally all the while for his slip of the tongue, "I though' you were as fond o'tha' sorta thing as 'e was – don' seem like yer cuppa tea is all".

To his amazement, and to say nothing of his relief, his spur of the moment question seemed to work; the rot was stopped. Rather than carry on walling up and sealing herself away in her unreachable prison the chameleon paused, struck by the force of his argument and, he noted with relief, thinking about a response, obviously wanting to carry on her conversation with him despite the way he'd put his foot right in it not seconds ago,

"In all honesty, I didn't think it was either", she admitted somewhat shamefacedly, the emotion unnecessary as far as Vector was concerned but much more welcome than the unresponsive silence that had threatened a minute earlier; _what, it's a crime to surprise yourself now – not any more it isn't Esp, I'll make sure of that_; "but according to Charmy, and I quote – 'if you're having a rough time getting your head down, no-one better than the good sheriff Rawshire to come riding to the rescue'. Guess he was right as well; they're not bad books as far as I've read this first one".

"Bin 'aving trubble 'ittin' th' 'ay?" The crocodile filed that titbit of information away before coming up with his own suggestion, "If tha's the case I reckon y'need a good mug fulla 'ot camomile tea just 'fore y'curl up wi'the good book ovanight".

"Nah, it's not that serious", the chameleon shrugged before forcibly slamming the anchors onto that train of thought – consciously she realised that Vector had offered a suggestion, and a valid one, to solve a little problem irking her and, at the same time, she realised her answer could be construed as a brusque denunciation of his charity. _That would have been just fine for Espio_; once more at the speed of thought she corrected herself, reinforcing her new foundations that she was never going to become someone so callous, so hurtful to everyone else around her, ever again; _but it's not fine for me, not now and not ever again_; "I mean, thanks for the tip and all, but I'm sure it'll blow over soon. Must be the season starting to change again – it's been a mild winter all things considered".

"Tha's true", Vector had to give her that; _as well as a lot of credit – can't have been easy to realise what you'd done wrong and fix it up like you just did_; "jus' as well, I 'ate that old water bottle, I swear it's sprung a leak". The chameleon chuckled, a sound of mirth from Esprana's lips compared to the cutting edge of vicious humour that would have shot from Espio's like a scythe,

"Leak – that's just you drooling that is", Vector glowered for a minute before his expression softened; Esprana had pulled her knees up and was now resting her chin on them, staring moodily at the wall in front of her as she unburdened her mind a little more, something else that had been nagging at the back of her mind forcibly shoved into the limelight again,

"Vec, mind if I ask you something?"

A fist suddenly grabbed hold of his heart and squeezed; it was impossible to breathe, virtually impossible to hear anything over the sudden thundering in his ears – this was it, the minute it was all coming together and nothing was going to stop it. Or at least, nothing that was within his power to prevent; with a colossal effort and force of will, the crocodile forced his numb jaws to open, just enough to force out words that were at least semi-legible,

"Yer, wh' y'after?" _Damn, all wrong_; once more he cursed his own ineptitude as Esprana looked over at him quizzically; he quickly and noisily coughed, looking down to avoid her gaze, "sorry, frog in me throat – what you after?" Sighing, the chameleon looked round and past him; Vector felt the crazy feeling earth away from him as quickly as it had sprung up and gripped the railing at the end of the bed to steady himself against the comedown as his team mate spoke again,

"Just this, the room in general I mean Vec; come on, it's not exactly cutting edge fashion is it?"

"I dunno", he answered with a shrug after taking in his surroundings afresh, the hint of a smirk on his lips, "I 'ear minimalism's the in thing this year". The chameleon shot him a nasty look before the expression broke and she moved onto the crux of the issue,

"Maybe but since when have we ever been followers of fashion? All joking aside though", recognising the joshing around ending Vector likewise sobered up in time to hear her next words, "this place is a bit barren isn't it? I never had anything like posters, or even shelves to put things on before – I think I need to change that".

"I can give y'and wi'that – coupla nails an' a few plank as 'ardboard'll get some shelvin' up", he pointed out reasonably before, sensing a slight opening, he moved in a little, trying to work his way a little closer to the heart of the nebula, the core around which the fledgling entity he recognised as Esprana Chameleon was forming, "'ad any thoughts 'bout what y'erd put on 'em?"

"No, not yet", she flopped sideways, crashing down on the pillows with a soft thump as the crocodile looked on, slightly amused by the consequences of following this tangent, "I'm keeping my eyes open but nothing's jumped out at me yet; just do me a favour though? If you see anything a bit, I don't know, a bit out there, bit out of the ordinary, let me know about it".

"Good fer'ya Esp", just about trusting himself again as he shook off the last lingering traces of the earlier power surge that had almost unhinged his mind, Vector reached down and slapped her on the calves affectionately, "normality sucks, join us in the madness". She glanced over her shoulder, auburn irises gleaned over with a sardonic glint,

"In case you didn't realise I've just come back from the madness and trust me it is not a pretty place to be. Now get going", she rolled onto her front, snatching her book back up and thumbing through to try and find her place, "leave me here; got a lot of bad guys to run out of town by sundown".

He was tempted for a second; it would have been just so easy to reach over and yank her tail, the justification that of retaliation for her swift dismissal already written for him and ready but somehow, almost against his better judgement, the crocodile let the moment slip past. Restraining himself to a dismissive snort, the head of the former private investigators showed himself out the door, stopped just outside it with one hand on the opposite wall, suddenly fatigued and light-headed as he ran the last quarter of an hour or so over in his head; _well, not quite the reaction I was dreaming of_; and that was true, it hadn't been; at the same time though, the crocodile felt a smile grow as his thought concluded almost of its own volition; _but still, hell of a lot better than it would have been if Espio had still been at the controls!_

XXX

On this particular day, during this particular morning, their wakings could not have been more diametrically opposed.

Knuckles had awoken with the birds, springing out of bed as though the joy of life were all he needed to sustain him; he'd dressed without so much as a backwards glance at the bed he'd just vacated and, more importantly, the bed partner he'd just left in the cold. As he knotted his last lace up properly the guardian headed for the door with a jaunty stride and a cheerful call over his shoulder,

"See you in a minute love, just going to get some breakfast. Hope you're dressed for when I get back"; _some might call me cruel for this_; and he was right on that count, especially as he was the one who had resisted all Rouges' attempted to lighten the sentence he'd imposed for her transgressions; _but hey, they're not here to tell me that to my face, and even if they did, that'd just prove they really don't know my wife at all_. His mood was so light and airy he had to catch himself in time to refrain from skipping out his front door; seizing his good mood by the scruff of its neck and giving it a hard shake, the guardian reasserted his normal and proper decorum and strode purposefully towards the small clump of trees that rested nearby, the orchard as some who had enjoyed his hospitality had christened it. In all honesty Knuckles wasn't sure how so many varied fruit trees had grown so closely together and didn't care all that much – as far as he was concerned it was a bit of serendipity that he was grateful to take hold of, especially since Rouge had moved in with him; guardian or otherwise, the echidna would have bet, if not the Master Emerald, perhaps a couple of its wayward children that he'd be the one lumbered with traipsing the length and breadth of Angel Island for the sweetberries Rouge assured him she needed to kick-start her mornings without the little knot of fruit so close at hand. Arriving at his destination, he dug his talons into the thick bark of one of the closer saplings and shimmied up, careful to keep his movements fluid and gentle to make sure he didn't put too much pressure on the young trees' shallow root system and end up toppling it completely. Eventually cresting the top of his challenge, the crimson echidna reached out and snagged his prize of a dozen or so of the knobbly red fruit, popping one into his mouth at the same time as placing the rest gently into the palm of his free glove, the material there concealing a well-padded and concealed pocket. _Umm, just right_; the echidna licked the last traces of juice from his lips – sweetberries were an awkward one to harvest as too early in the season they were hard and sour but, on the other hand, if picked too late they were so soft and mushy that even handling them was a risk – more than once both he and Rouge had been left with a literal red face as one had exploded at a most inopportune moment; _got this lot right on the button though. But even so_; the tail end of his thought brought the grin that he'd suppressed since waking up surging back to his lips unstoppably as he leapt into the air and caught the wind, gliding free towards his next target; _no matter how sweet the fruit is, it's nothing compared to getting one over on a certain fruit bat!_

XXX

Even though she'd prepared for it as much as possible, the moment the reality of her situation became clear made her shrivel up even more – stuffing her head even further towards her knees as she sheltered under the comforting shield of the blanket that now covered her, Rouge cursed her dire straits desperately; getting her husband to whistle was a sore reflection indeed on how bad things were, but getting him to _sing_…

"Oh what a beautiful moooorrrrnnnning…"; _oh this is going to kill her – good_; safely within the privacy of his own home once more Knuckles burst into an impromptu number, the words warbling horribly as he watched the bundle of bedclothes shiver in response,

"…on what a beau-ti-ful daaaaaayyyy…", hastily depositing the breakfast he'd brought back with him on the bedside table the echidna whipped out a solitary leaf, plucked from other plant he'd managed to find on his way back – he didn't know the correct scientific terminology for it, or for that matter its proper name, so he just called it a dusting-leaf due to the function he put it to usually. Setting it to work on the nearest shelf, Knuckles felt himself almost capering around the room madly, whipped up into a virtual frenzy of excitement as the target of his roundabout mockery shuffled even more vigorously in her cocoon of cotton and down,

"…I have a wonderfullllll feeeeelliiiing…", the bundle groaned this time and Knuckles knew he wasn't going to be able to carry on for long, not without breaking down into laughter at any rate; with this in mind he flopped down on the foot of the bed, just behind where Rouge was curled up in the covers as he let rip with the last line of his unprovoked karaoke display,

"…we're heading down Echidnopolis waaaaayyyyy! Hey", he was cut off in full flow, his talent expunged by someone with obviously no ear for music as Rouge kicked out, her foot landing in his side, though the impact was muted by about a half-foot of fabric,

"Stop bloody singing!" The voice was a shriek he could hear clearly; that didn't mean he had to pay attention to it though – putting on a pouting face and a hurt note in his voice, the guardian replied sniffily,

"No fair, I was working up to a crescendo then – never interrupt an artist when he's working towards a crescendo, it can be very dangerous that can".

"Not as dangerous as you carrying on would be", the bundle threatened as it shuffled around, trying to come about and face him but thwarted as, more by accident than design, Knuckles was sat on an important corner of the duvet vital for locomotion, "shut up and let me get some shut-eye". The echidna shivered with silent laughter for a second before sobering up, well aware of what Rouge was up to an equally sure that he wasn't going to let it happen; sizing up the ball she'd wrapped herself in for a minute, Knuckles reached over and softly patted one particular portion of the rumpled bedcovers at the same time as answer,

"Now, now Woogekins", the bat growled from beneath her shield – if there was a single name Knuckles had come up with that wound her up worse than batgirl, that one was it, "can't have you doing that – you've got a big day ahead of you today, and a date you really can't afford to miss; well, I wouldn't miss it for the world anyway".

"You're really enjoying this aren't you?" It was a pointless question, of course he was; Rouge could almost see the delight written on his face, could in fact picture in her mind how such an expression had transformed at her words into a shocked gasp, his hands, including the one that had up until recently been rhythmically patting around her tail through the blanket, flying to the perfect O of horror his mouth had become,

"Moi?" Even his voice had changed, if only by a fraction; she could still taste the glee in it like a sticky, poisonous honey despite the mock-remorse he'd tried to sugar-coat it with, "Enjoy the spectacle of my beloved other half finally getting a taste of her own medicine and a well-deserved comeuppance? Never!"

"Good", the bat shot back before stretching out slightly, the movement drawing some fresh air into the stuffy confines of her little bundle, letting her breathe more easily, "in that case you won't be disappointed to hear I've changed my mind then will you?"

XXX

_Oh have you now?_; not that he wasn't expecting this, in fact far from it, but he was prepared for his bride to dig her heels in as much as possible, in fact he was even grateful for it – after all, where was the challenge if the quarry surrendered without a fight?

"Indeed you're right, I wouldn't"; _that aught to throw her off her stride a bit_; he'd reasoned this through in his head on the walk back home, trying to plot her most logical lines of attack and come up with counters to bisect her offensive strategies; _and now, strike while she's reeling_; "not for myself at least – I would, on the other hand, be very disappointed that you're slipping back into bad habits you sneaky little spy you. And we can't have that now can we", she might have wanted to reply to that but he cut her off, surreptitiously sneaking his hand down to grip and ever-so-slyly prise up the corner of the blanket he was sitting on upwards, his next weapon already in his off-hand, "so come on then, up you get!"

With that he thrust forwards like an expert fencer, the dusting leaf slipping through the small gap he'd wedged open in his wife's defences like a rapier and eliciting a gasp of shock from his target. Even as Knuckles congratulated himself on his cleverness, however, his erstwhile prey turned with the lithe swiftness of an enraged tigress; the echidna barely realised the dusting leaf had gone from his grip until he heard the shredding noises from under the blanket. As a selection of ragged green shreds were posted back through the gap to him, each delivered in tandem with an imaginative curse, Knuckles knew it was time to bring out the really big guns – nothing else was going to be able to break through to her. Slapping his hands onto his knees and heaving himself to his feet, the guardian spun on his heel and looked down onto the bed, shaking his head as his tone switched from frivolous to solemn in the blink of an eye,

"Okay Rouge, I tried to be nice about this but you've just left me no other choice", he leant down closer to where he judged her ears would be, his voice sinking to an ominous whisper, "if you don't get your cute little bat butt out of bed in the next five minutes I will drag you out of there, throw you over my shoulder and walk you into town in your pyjamas; now what do you say to that?"

As he expected she didn't say anything; what in all honesty was there anyone could say? However, also as he half-expected, he couldn't see any signs of movement just yet, but then again going by his self-appointed deadline she still had at least the better part of four and a half minutes to heave herself upright. However even as the thought crossed his mind he started slightly; the bump on the bed seemed to be flattening itself outwards, the Mobian wrapped up in the middle of the swaddling clothes stretching out slinkily; try as he might to keep his face inscrutable, Knuckles couldn't help the hint of a smile creeping onto his lips as the tips, then the full extent of his wife's large, twitching ears peeked out of the blanket, followed slowly, seductively by the rest of her face; _hmm_; as he took in her expression, with its half-lidded eyes and sly smile, the echidna knew she wasn't quite ready to give up yet; _I know that look all too well_;

"Nice plan of yours Knuxie", the bat ran her tongue along her teeth slowly, teasingly as she sank back slightly atop the bed, an obvious invitation he was finding more difficult to resist than he'd have liked, "but you forget one little thing", she let the blanket slip a touch; the guardian found himself quickly realising what the problem was and, more importantly, having to come up with a counter to it a lot more urgently than he'd have liked, "I'm not wearing any pyjamas".

"Actually yes, I had forgotten", the echidna grinned with a slightly rueful smile, and it was true he had; he'd almost forgotten he'd pre-planned for this type of delaying stunt and only just remembered his plan in the nick of time, "but overall it doesn't change anything; we'll still go a-wandering to the big city, just have to stop at the bank before we move onto the main event that's all".

_Eh?_; now that had been a curveball she hadn't anticipated – though Rouge wasn't above using her admittedly formidable feminine charms to beguile her husband on occasion, this time more than any others she'd been certain they wouldn't work; _no harm in trying though. But what does he mean, the bank?_;

"What? Knucks, the bank?" To her deepening confusion the echidna laughed, slapping his knees at a joke she obviously couldn't see,

"Can't you figure it out", her deeply-knitted brows must had betrayed her deepening perplexity and as a result simply deepened the echidnas' mirth, "Rouge you are priceless sometimes; think about it – if you were to walk into any bank on Angel Island, in fact scratch that, any bank in the world, without a stitch on, I could turn the place over, rifle the pockets of everyone in the building and probably have a quick flick through War and Peace without even the security cameras noticing me".

To her deep credit the bat didn't blush; to her even deeper chagrin, however, that was simply because there was no way something as pronounced as the full-frontal explosion erupting over her cheeks could ever be called a simple blush. It wasn't that she was unused to compliments; in all the time she'd worked on the world below she didn't think there was a man she'd ever come into contact with who hadn't seen something he'd liked in her, and to their credit a fair few of them had admired her sharp brain and quick wits as much as her body, but with Knuckles it was different. Alone amongst everyone she'd ever had in the world, with the possible exception of her late and greatly lamented mother, Rouge always felt that when the echidna gifted her a compliment, any compliment, no matter how trifling it might have sounded or seemed at the time, he meant every word he said and he meant it truly. Gruff and forthright he might have been but underneath everything else the guardian was honest and he had confessed, no, that wasn't quite the right word for it implied the truth had been forced out of him by external forces – he had admitted that in a straight choice between herself and the jewel that was his sworn duty, the very epicentre of his whole universe, the Master Emerald came second every time.

He had said such a thing freely before the sternest judges of all, his very grandfathers, to prove he was worthy of her heart the same way she had proved she was strong enough to try and claim his – to them it had proven satisfactory, to her it was as though some higher being had spoken through the echidna and bound them body and soul. She had counted herself married from that day; the wedding, though important and a necessary part of making their joining binding in law, paled into insignificance when compared to the moment, the absolute spilt-second Rouge had finally realised the one who was truly meant for her, the someone she had subconsciously yearned for all her life the same way souls have yearned for their partner since the dawn of time, had been the one she'd spent the past year and some of her life trying to push away. And he had forgiven her lack of foresight freely, without blame and for that she would forever be in his debt; _even if, as now_; finally catching up with the rest of the world Rouge shook herself, reminded by the sight of her husbands' smirking smile that eye-glazing and hanging jaws were not counted as appropriate decorum and fighting to recover her wits; _he has the most irritating habit of just occasionally pulling a complete and utter rabbit out his hat_;

"Knucks", her voice was breathless, she'd forgotten to inhale in her haste, "Knuckles, you mean…?"

"Of course I mean it – come on", he chuckled slightly at the same time as reach forwards and pull the blanket shut a little way, though not before catching a half-decent peek at some of what it hid from view, "you know and I know you're never going to stop turning heads no matter what you wear; Christ Rouge you could stroll down a catwalk in a bin liner and still hit the headlines…"

"For all the wrong reasons".

"…Maybe but I don't think too many men would complain. However", the echidna stood up, the familiar mischief she'd seen earlier back in his smile with a vengeance and inwardly she groaned; _I guess this is it then – there really is no way out of this one_; "you and I also both know I'm more than capable of doing exactly what I said I would. So", falling onto his back and rolling, the echidna snatched her suit up from its customary post on the bottom of the bed and handed it out to her, "come on and get dressed; if we're quick we can catch up with mum before her pre-natal class starts". Rouge sat back in the blankets for a second before sighing in defeat, heaving herself forwards to take her clothing from the echidna's proffered hand,

"All right, I'm up", she huffed, summoning the energy she needed to slide out of bed and start getting dressed; to her shock however, her motion was stilled by the power of a hand on her own; for a second she gazed uncomprehendingly at the glove that engulfed half her forearm before her eyes were drawn upwards, losing itself in a haze of purple and lilac as Knuckles locked his gaze with hers,

"Rouge, it's okay; I know what this means to you – much as you hate to admit it", he said, half-chastising and inwardly grateful when some of her trademark sassiness came back to the fore, reasserting itself by reinforcing her previously forlorn demeanour, "you hate letting people down, especially when you were just trying to show off and it ended up bringing you down to earth with a bump. So I tell you what; when you've broken bread with Shadow, how about we all go out, you, me, him and Julie, and we have a coffee or something, just clear the air a bit, how's that sound?"

_Terrific_; in the small part of her mind that was left to think as the rest of her exploded in adoration of her husband's occasional ability to come up with a plan of elegant yet refined genius, Rouge allowed herself a rueful chuckle as she threw herself into the echidna's arms, hugging him tightly as she buried her lips in the side of his neck; _I wait years for the two things I like about you to really start shining, and then I get them, both barrels, in the space of a few minutes – ain't this just a grand old life?_

XXX

Heeding well the lessons of the previous night, Julie was smart enough to put the tray down and knock before walking in blindly,

"Hey", she called through the lounge door, trying but ultimately failing in trying to keep a hint of mirth at her flatmates' currently pitiful position from her voice, "is it safe to come in there or do I need to break out the hazmet suit?" There were a few seconds of silence, just long enough to make her suspect that for once she'd managed the impossible and woken up before him, when that beautiful illusion was shattered by a croaky voice from inside the still-sealed off lounge,

"Ha-flippin'-ha", the acid in the hedgehogs' voice would have stripped even her augmented forearms to mere wire, "if I knew what a hazmet suit was I'd be able answer you, but as I don't you'll just have to take my word for it; it's safe".

"Your word huh? Well", reaching down and hefting the tray once more, the echidna squared her shoulders and strode forwards, "after what I've heard of your word I'm not holding my breath – ah, in fact, on second thought", she brought herself up short as she thought about things as they were now in the flat and realised that this was perhaps not the wisest of statements to make, "holding my breath is exactly what I'm going to be doing. Light". With that, she toed open the door with the tip of her slipper, sidled inside and swished her head sideways, the weight of her mechanical dreadlock bumping into the wall and light switch just to the side of her, flicking it on and bathing the room in fluorescence.

_And there but for the spirits' grace…_; actually, Julie realised as she mentally finished the old proverb, where Shadow was now was somewhere she'd already been once. As the black hedgehog blinked back his vision the echidna paused by the door, smiling as she trawled back through her memories and found that yes, once upon a time at fourteen just going on fifteen and taking another step into the realms of maturation from girl to full woman, she too had found herself curled up on the end of a couch in a sleeping bag, hugging her midsection and cursing under her breath as the cramps and hot flushes played havoc with her mood swings.

"Urgh", her trip down memory lane was interrupted as Shadow found his voice again, nodding at the tray she held as something stuck him as out of place, "what's that for?" Ignoring his grouchy tone, Julie found herself smiling and, feeling a distinct sense of déjà vu sweeping over her, quoted from memory the exact words her adopted sister Sady-Ha, being a year older and a lot more worldly-wise, had used as she too pro-offered a hot water bottle; essential, she assured her younger sibling, for easing through the first and most difficult time of the month,

"Just trust me", she offered the tray as a whole forwards, the movement making the thick plastic sack atop it wobble and draw the hedgehogs' eye, "it will help. Go on, take it". As it was offered again Shadow muttered something inaudible under his breath and reached forwards, groaning as he did so as he was forced to put weight on his stomach; a second later her flopped back, the water bottle vanishing under the covers as he stretched out backwards. Taking his cue, the former Dark Legionnaire took a seat on the edge of the settee itself, watching as the hedgehog's expression softened a little from outright pain to moderate discomfort,

"See? Makes you feel better doesn't it?"

"Don't even think about trying to pick up brownie points from me"; _damn_; scuppered before she'd even really got going Julie could only shrug as her flatmate concluded his withering speech, "I'm grateful, yes, but after the hell you put me through I assure you hand-and-foot service is the least I'm expecting for at least the rest of the weekend".

"Hey", his bold declaration immediately stoked her fiery temper, the flare of ire backed up by a smouldering, logical assurance that simultaneously answered the hedgehog and eased her own mind about the correct appropriation of guilt, "I told you last night and I'll tell you again now, I did not tell that Brotherhood-thingy about the damned tape – how could I anyway, I don't even know where they are, or how to get in touch with them except through Knuckles, and he already knew about it".

_Damn_; even as the words left her lips Julie found herself wondering at them, and more than that she could see in Shadows' eyes that he was asking himself the same question that was now rattling around in her brain; _why didn't I come up with that earlier?_ All the previous evening she'd been fending off accusations from her flatmate that she'd set the whole thing up when actually she'd just delivered him into the lions' den – why hadn't she used that defence to back up her point of view? Even as she berated herself furiously, however, the hedgehog reasserted himself and leant forwards as much as he was able to in the circumstances,

"Be that as it may", he started, the breath whistling out of him as he leant back down again with the water bottle still pressed firmly to his tender midsection, "the undeniable fact is that you helped conspire all this even if you weren't the reason it actually happened, and believe you me, you should be very grateful you're not the reason it happened. If I ever find out who spilt their guts…" He didn't quite finish but Julie reckoned from his expression and frantic hand gesticulations alone that she could hazard a pretty good guess at the outcome of that little meeting,

"Well good hunting sir; I tell you that one warrior to another", she informed him with a salute and a smirk before dropping her arm and turning serious again, "but how are you now, and I mean that – you could barely move last night and how you got home from work just defies me".

_Me too_; of the actual event and journey running back from the C.A. Shadow had virtually no memory at all – the last thing he could clearly state in his mind was opening his front door, stepping one foot over the threshold and then collapsing completely, everything ceasing to exist except the crippling, gut-wrenching agony that had shredded up his stomach. Julie's face just about came to him there, an indistinct, blurry smear jabbering questions he couldn't understand or even begin to compute, before eventually he was heaved upright despite his wordless howls of anguish and protest; he wanted just to be left alone, curled up in a ball on the front door mat and left alone with his misery. As she did so much of the time, however, his flatmate had a different idea; when he came back to himself the former ultimate life-form had found himself in the bathroom, hunched over on the throne and rather wondering what had happened; though his gut had been churning like a washing machine on overdrive, the mind-searing ache had departed as quickly as it had appeared, leaving him weary and confused. Still not trusting himself entirely, he'd tip-toed out of the bathroom cautiously, alert for any warning from below that things were not as they should have been, to finally see that he'd been locked up in his prison of pain for almost an hour and a half. Luckily for him Julie had been able to think on her feet and therefore his absence from his bi-weekly massage classes wouldn't be taken as a worrying sign by those who still felt they had cause for concern; despite her own recent problems, his workmate Honey had never quite taken her eye off him since that quasi-tragic day and night he'd walked into work looking like something that had just checked itself out of a local mortuary; _not like I should complain though – without her and the others I'd probably still be back there now, or worse. Actually_; as he felt another problem brewing downstairs, the one that had kept him awake all night and probably provided the ex-Dark Legionnaire with more material to make his life miserable than she knew what to do with, he caught himself wondering if he wasn't in a metaphorically worse place already.

"Didn't get much sleep", he remarked shortly, hoping against hope Julie would just this once swallow his words and leave him and his severely rumpled digestive system in peace, "but I reckon everything else is about as it should be. I feel better at least".

"Oh good, good", Julie nodded before her lips split into a grin, "wouldn't have been safe to light a match in here last night – glad all that's behind us now, rather than just being behind you". Shadow scowled,

"Just couldn't resist it could you?"

"Come on, can you blame me?" The echidna sniggered as she stood up again, the breakfast tray left by the hedgehogs' feet, "Out the two of us I deserve a bit of a laugh; take it from me it's no fun living with a Mobian gas-factory".

"And take it from me if you're not out this room in the next five seconds…" _Better and better…_; Julie snatched down a breath and theatrically pinched her nose,

"Oh no, don't tell me I'll get yet another free sample of the quality of your wares". Infuriated Shadow leant forwards and slapped at her but showing reflexes borne from an adolescence spent in fire and combat training, Julie leant back and avoided his flailing hand before coming lightly to her feet, out of range of the hedgehog glowering from the settee. Smirking, the partially metallic echidna headed towards the lounge door, just about to call a casual farewell over her shoulder before a sudden shout brought her up short,

"Julie, Jules!" She span on her heel, the sight of Shadow flapping around as though convulsing making her forego all her normal threat-recognition formats and rush back towards him.

A second later she was hurtling back the other way, eyes watering, one hand over her nose and spluttering for fresh air as her flat mates' lightly-mocking laughter hounded her every step,

"Shadow", she risked a shallow breath through the mouth, just enough to finish her sentence, "that was _vile_!"

"Hey, she who helped supply it shouldn't deny it – heheheooooohhh! Cramp!" This time she didn't even hang around to see if he was being genuine or not; slamming the door shut behind her the echidna sniffed deeply several times, cursing the hedgehog under her breath and she slowly stood up and stalked away, the insides of her nostrils still smarting as though attacked by exceptionally strong acidic vapours.

XXX

About half an hour later, the former Dark Legionnaire was sat at the kitchen table, just finishing tying the laces of her left shoe; _typical, just so bloody typical – I'm just trying to help and he just turns on me like a snake in the grass_; if part of her mind tried to remind her that Shadow was right in what he said insofar as she was partially to blame for their joint situation she paid it no heed, preferring instead the lump the blame in his general direction; _right, this place is starting to stink up too badly – time to get some fresh air._ Standing up and shaking herself down, Julie stretched off for a couple of minutes, consciously blocking from her mind that it had been Shadow who'd shown her how to lessen the risk of pulling vital muscles and tendons – as far as she was concerned the black hedgehog didn't exist until he'd been big enough to apologise for his little stunt earlier. Slipping out of the kitchen she headed for the front door, not bothering to lock the door or even take her keys with her as there was very little risk of Shadow even leaving the lounge before she got back never mind the rest of the property. Jogging gently down the stairs and pausing only to let one of the other residents heft a couple of bags of shopping up towards the fourth floor, Julie reached the lobby of her apartment block shaking her head; how did other Mobians manage to find time to shop in the morning, especially on a weekend? _Must be mad_; nodding at her own conclusions and wondering why the rest of reality found it so difficult to conform to her standards of normality, she pushed the front door open and stepped outside, shivering slightly at the seasonal nip in the air before remembering that once she started her run she'd soon warm up. Checking left and right to ensure no stray pedestrians were likely to get run over, she pivoted and geared up for the hardest part of the run, starting off; she drew in a deep breath, slid her favoured right leg back, pushed of hard and…

"Julie?"

Only luck saved her from kissing tarmac; as she scrabbled frantically for balance that the question had robbed her of utterly by destroying her concentration at the crucial moment, she couldn't even begin to put a face to the name until she was able to turn around clumsily and look back up the street at where the voice had come from,

"Thanks Rouge", she gasped breathlessly at the same time as gulp down more air frantically, "between us I think we might have just hit on a permanent cure for the hiccups there". The bat smiled ruefully; had Julie not been in such a flustered state she might have noticed something was amiss there and then but for now she realised nothing as the other Mobian looked her up and down,

"Sorry about that but we just had to catch you before you shot away", she inclined her head to show where Knuckles was trundling up the street towards them both, apparently content to let his wife do all the quick running while he approached the situation at a more leisurely pace, "where were you off anyway?"

"Oh just the usual mile and some", the echidna shrugged before catching the bat's expression from the corner of her eye; _duh – of course she doesn't know_; "got a bet running with you-know-who – boy he thinks he's got it bad now, you just wait for another couple of days when I win this baby". She rubbed her hands together with an ominous chuckle, something that Knuckles, only just arriving at the scene, took in completely the wrong context as he moved up to stand shoulder to shoulder with his partner,

"Julie, please don't laugh at my missus making a right pig's ear out of something; that's one of the very few bright spots of me being married to her", the guardian said grinning, an arm slipping around Rouges' shoulders and his smirk only deepening as he rode the elbow the bat jabbed viciously backwards in his direction, "still, much as I'd like to crow about it this really isn't the time or the place – is the other occupant of your delightful abode available?"

"Rouge", Julie ventured after a couple of seconds eyeing the guardian warily, taking a half-step backwards and generally looking like she was ready to make a break for it, "I think his medication might need tweaking again". The bat snorted, a withering glare zapping her husband from the corner of her eye as she girded herself to take the forthcoming plunge,

"You might well be right; if he carries on the way he's going he'll really need some medication, I'll make sure of that. Thing is though we, or, I", she corrected herself, already imagining how foolish she sounded and unable to do a damn thing about it, "I'm actually looking for Shadow, is he around?"

"Yeah he's upstairs", Julie answered with the careful air of someone vaguely baffled by the proceedings but still determined to play their part as best they could, "uh, any particular reason you want him? I can take a message, only he's not really in the best of ways at the minute".

_Oh great_; this was getting better by the second as far as Rouge was concerned – not only was Shadows' pride most likely smarting from whatever had happened in Haven, her beloved grandfathers-in-law had only just gone and thrown something else into the mix just for good measure. Forcing a fixed smile onto her face, the bat tried to sail through the storm as much as she was able to despite her list of excuses having more holes in it than the average sieve,

"Ah, well, much as I'd like to take you up on that it's a bit vital I see him, face to face sort of thing"; _please just accept this - pretty please, with a cherry on top_; however with a sinking feeling the bat realised this was just destined not to be her day – already made suspicious by her husbands earlier comments, Julie was looking at her now with a distinctly dubious eye,

"Why? Okay, pair of you", suddenly rearing up to her full, if not terribly imposing, height, the former Dark Legionnaire fixed the two of them with a steely eye, hands planted on hips and jaw set; she was going nowhere until she got some answers, "what's going on, and how's Shadow…in fact, forget about Shadow, you two tell me how you're involved in whatever it is you need to see him about". Rouge winced as though slapped and Knuckles grinned – Julie was about to question them at the same time the bat was just about to force the first stuttering line of her answer from her lips at gun point when with a noise like an old manhole cover being thrown onto a scrap-yard, the proverbial penny dropped.

For a second all three of them were still, then without uttering a word Julie reached slowly forwards and patted her friends' shoulder softly, the sentiment appreciated despite the lurking smile on the echidna's lips. Then, in equal silence, she beckoned the two of them towards the apartment block and slowly led them inside where mirth and despair awaited them in equal measure.

XXX

The front door creaked open a little and all three of them winced, not caring at the spectacle they must have been presenting to anyone walking down the hallway at the time; as a general rule most renters in the apartment blocks tended to keep to themselves but even so, the sight of two echidnas and a bat trying to listen in at a tiny crack in a door would have been enough to turn almost any head,

"He's in there", Julie breathed, Rouge's ear flicking unconsciously as her breath tickled it, "but I don't recommend just barging in, not without a gasmask to hand at any rate".

"Hmm, good as all that is it?" With a sardonic eye Julie turned and found herself speaking into Knuckles' crest, the guardian being almost half a foot taller than she was despite being hunched over the door with the pair of them,

"You have no idea".

"Try me".

"Okay", her voice rose a little as she became aware of her audience doubling in size, Rouge having taken a little time to stand up straight and pay attention to her words, "if I'd opened a window last night Shadow would in all probability be in enjoying the charming custody of the EST holding cells and looking at a life sentence or worse"; _wait for it_; she had to hold it in as much as she could despite already knowing that was a lost battle – the longer she could hold out on her own mirth the more it would transmit to the guardians; _wait for…oh forget it_; "it's not my speciality I'm first to admit, but I reckon attempted asphyxiation of the entire west side of Echidnopolis comes with a pretty hefty sentence as a price tag".

As she'd expected Rouge figured it out slightly the quicker; the bat screwed her face up in a vain attempt not to smile, shuddering at the echidnas' inflection just as Knuckles finally put two and two together and a snort of laughter ripped out of his nose, the uninhibited mirth belatedly choked off as he clapped a mitt over his suddenly redder than ever face,

"Oh dear", Rouge had also turned slightly pinker but for what reason Julie couldn't guess, "well I guess that just makes it certain really doesn't it. Better get this over with". With that the bat squared her shoulders and marched forwards, Knuckles almost collapsing in her wake as she spilled the door open and stepped inside; seeing no particular reason to remain stood on her own doorstep when there was a perfectly serviceable kitchen within easy reach, Julie turned to Knuckles just as the other echidna belatedly regained something akin to composure,

"Coming in? Fancy anything to drink or anything?" Unfortunately Knuckles' recovery hadn't quite extended as far as being able to speak so he simply shook his head and stepped inside, heading towards the kitchen just as his wife paused by the shut lounge door – for a second it looked like she might have been praying before she slowly, tremulously, placed her hand on the door handle and twisted it, opening the door incrementally as though afraid to see what lay beyond. Knuckles tipped her a fortifying wink he wasn't sure she picked up on before she was lost of his sight and the welcoming vision of Julie-Su's kitchen embraced him almost like a parent swaddled an adopted child, the picture brought further into focus by the arrival of the mistress of the house herself, the guardians' one-time enemy and one-time misguided stalker stepping into the kitchen and looking him up and down,

"So then", he caught himself by surprise by speaking first but ploughed on regardless, "how's he been, really?" Julie simply shrugged and chuckled,

"About as bad as I mentioned earlier, and that is the truth, hand on heart", she did indeed place one hand on her breastbone, if only to allay the suspicions conveyed by Knuckles' raised eyebrow, "but enough stalling, onto the juicy bits", the ex-Dark Legionnaire took a predatory step forwards, hunger for raw, fresh gossip etched on her face, "what happened to get the two of you wrapped up in this whole thing? And how come it's just Rouge apologising – don't try to tell me it's just her fault?"

Mildly affronted by this Knuckles was about to dispel her comforting illusions that he was in some way responsible for this whole situation when someone else proved that fact beyond all possible doubt; like the rumblings of a distant but oncoming avalanche, the tolling of the bell just before the final judgement, Shadow's voice echoed through the flat in a menacing, aggravated shout,

"_You!_"

XXX

The events immediately after this violent proclamation were, perhaps understandably, somewhat blurred in the recollections of those present due to the pace at which they precipitated one-another; all that could be concretely set in stone were the results of Rouge making her confession to an ailing friend. Therefore anyone walking in on that scene would have been doubtless bemused, though possibly also amused, at the sight of one white fruit bat hanging off the back of a red echidna's neck, who himself was simultaneously trying to fend off the attentions of an exceptionally upset black hedgehog grabbing for the bat at the same time as relinquish her crushing grip on his airways and allow himself to breathe again, while in the background a second echidna of indeterminable colouration and partially metal construction simply fell about laughing at the other three,

"Praise be to the spirits", Julie called aloud in exultation – she hadn't laughed like this in what felt like years, "a miracle cure!" Luckily for her everyone else had their hands full to pay much attention to her words; Shadow, obviously driven to a blind fury by whatever Rouge had passed onto him, was trying to pummel the living daylights out of the former spy who, for her part, was doing her best to keep out the way of his murderous rampage, her husband forming a convenient shield in this regard as she dodged around him this way and that, almost dragging Knuckles around with her as she pranced away from Shadows' furious assaults,

"Shadow", very quickly realising he was very much in the firing line Knuckles thrust his hands forwards and tried to make a plea for clemency, "leave me be, I'm an innocent bystander!"

"Oh yeah", the ebon hedgehog turned his bloodied gaze to the echidna for just a second before returning his crosshairs to their original target, "well you're also in my way!"

"Wait, wait", adding chaos to confusion Rouge also piped up, "calm down and let's…" From her seat in the sidelines Julie winced; _wrong move there batgirl_;

"Calm down!" Julie shook with yet another fit of the giggles as her flatmate renewed his assault, trying to grab and grapple around Knuckles and seize the cowering bat; as far as she could tell her friends' attempt to cool the volatile situation had been about as effective as trying to douse a fire by throwing paraffin on it, "After you, you ratted on me to the Brotherhood?! You have no idea, no _idea_, how much I want you dead right now!"

"Oh", Knuckles begged to differ as he tried once more to claw his wife's arm away from his neck, "I'd say we both have some idea…"

"Shut up!" Fortunately the fact they seemed to have shouted together seemed to have thrown the quarrelling Mobians off their stride, finally allowing Knuckle to rip himself free and heave down a deep breath, massaging his sore throat as Julie finally decided enough was enough. Striding into no-mans-land between the two, the mechanised echidna let her voice raise as she looked first Shadow, then his erstwhile prey dead in the eye,

"Stop, both of you, that's enough; Rouge I don't know what you said but I want to, likewise Shadow, well", she faltered for a split-second as he turned a volcanic glare in her direction – luckily it was just a split-second otherwise the whole brawl might have kicked off again but her composure was up to the task this time, "let's just be civilised about this; no back-biting, bitchiness or blood until we've all sat down and talked this through like adults".

_Wow, was that really me talking?_; normally Julie was the first to throw herself headlong into a scrap so the role of peace-broker came as something of a novelty. The fact that both antagonists seemed to be playing her some attention as well was an almost incredible bonus; both stood down warily as they eyed each other up, one still a little scared but defiant, the other positively murderous,

"Okay, we'll talk this through", Shadow agreed after a long, poisonous pause, Rouge likewise quick to give her ascent; her nodding stopped abruptly, however, as her former team-mate delivered a chilling, knife-edge smile across the kitchen, "then, unless you've got an impeccable explanation batgirl, there will be blood".

XXX

The kettle was still boiling when Shadow sat at the table, his entire demeanour suggesting he really wasn't going to move in the near future as he glowered upwards, beckoning with a single finger,

"Okay, let's hear this then Rouge". Desperate for a minute to get her head straight again, the bat pointed to the whistling appliance on the side,

"But…"

"No buts", Shadow was normally fairly patient, especially when compared to his blue counterpart from the worlds below, but this time his tolerance was snapped beyond all hope of repair, "I want to know why; I already know you did it, so just tell me what possessed you to tell them all". With the resigned and apprehensive air of the condemned approaching the gallows, Rouge sidled slowly towards the table, seating herself on the very lips of the chair pulled out for her and grateful that Knuckles was sat slightly closer to the hedgehog than she was. Julie, picking up slightly on what was going on, also took a diplomatic seat between the two factions at war and cocked an ear towards the bat; _well, this is it then – if all else fails jump out the window and hope there's a decent breeze_;

"Lack of other options", she began, almost quailing as the venom in her former team mates' eyes increased to almost lethal levels, "look, we were all together in Haven, some ceremony or other the whole lot have every year in Edmunds', the first guardians', his memory", Julie gave a slight 'oh' of understanding at this – up until this point she'd never even heard of the earliest ancestor of the current guardian now sharing her kitchen with her, "and after it was done, Sabre came over. Not quite sure what he said, don't really remember, he just wanted me to join him that little practise he's got – I admit it, I should have suspected something but by that point I was just desperate to get out the main meeting room. I never even knew what was happening until it was too late; he just slammed the door shut behind us and held it there while, while he…"

She'd given it her all, the heart-rending sniffle and turn of the shoulder as though in disgust at the memory and to her absolute relief it seemed to have some effect; Shadow's expression had certainly softened a touch, though not as much as she'd have liked to see, and Julie was definitely radiating sympathy. Both other Mobians seemed to have taken her side of the story at face value; now if she could just…

"Yeah right…"

The bat nearly fainted; she'd completely forgotten Knuckles had been sat by her side and, of course, he knew the story as well as she did – as such, he'd seen straight through the bit of creative doctoring she'd done on the circumstances. _And this is me for the high jump then_; Rouge could just see it now, all the havoc and hellfire would surely come raining down now; _bad enough I dropped him in but, Shadow could live with that, but to try and paper over it like that – he'll go utterly spare! Maybe I can try, try and make a joke about it, yeah, he's got a sense of humour, that could woahhh!_;

"Rouge!" Julie's voice at high volume and very short range brought her back down to earth with a big bump; as she started to recover from the shock she caught the echidna starting at her with a stern but slightly worried eye, "Sorry girl you'd just completely zombied then. Was it really that bad?"

"As I was saying", as automatically as a lighthouse beacon Rouge felt her head swivel around to her husband, "it came out the blue, really did – I didn't even realise they'd gone 'til it was too late. Word of warning for you Julie, just in case you ever meet an oldish-looking echidna with a monocle in the street", even as he turned to look at the ex-Legionnaire the guardians' eye lingered, just for a split-second, on Rouge; the look that passed between them spoke volumes about how much of a favour he was doing her and, just as importantly, that he expected an awful lot of legwork from her direction to make up for it, "my grandfather can have a right silver tongue on him at times; sure worked on Rouge that time". Shadow snorted, smarting still but definitely mollified, at least a little, by Knuckles' input on the story, as he glared across the table again,

"Now that I do believe; you'd go after anything if it had precious metal in it wouldn't you batgirl?" With her formerly scattered wits mostly regrouped Rouge had enough self-awareness to scowl in his direction before he carried on, "Anyway, you've got me interested now; what happened in there? What torture did Sabre devise that was so awful you had to go spilling your guts about me then?"

Snapped back to reality so abruptly, Rouge had to fight to find her voice again; when she'd finally tracked it down and thrown it out into the open, it was such a small and pathetic-sounding thing she almost winced,

"I, ah, that's to say he…it, it was horrible, he threatened to", she shuddered, the memory alone enough to make her ears twitch and shiver on top of her head, "he said he'd pierce my ears so badly – he had a staple gun Shadow, a staple gun!"

It was possibly due to species difference that the hedgehog seemed not to grasp the significance of this fact; granted his ears were sensitive, far more so than mere human offices, but even the worst that could have been done to his crowning glory would have been only just comparable to the suffering she'd have endured with even a single needle on her ears.

"Ear piercing? Just a bloody ear piercing?" Shadow chuckled, though there was no amusement in his voice as he carried on, "Rouge your tolerance for pain amazes me; how exactly did you ever make the grade as a spy? What would've happened if you'd have been caught and they needed to get information out of you – there go the governments' secrets in the blink of an eye".

"Oh I don't know, she's pretty tough in most places", Knuckles chipped in with a shrug, swiftly followed by a smile, "just don't threaten her ears with needles or her feet with feathers and her lips are sealed". Shadow's expression didn't change as he looked back towards his former friend, the cutting edge of his gaze chopping the bat down until she felt no more than an inch high,

"Well then, oh sworn guardian of Angel Islands' rarest and most powerful treasure, let me tell you something; I had my ears hammered as well when the guardians came knocking, but unlike you I had that happen before I even bloody got to Haven!"

Julie attempted to look innocent and failed; a second after looking at her Knuckles put the pieces together and tried to hide his resultant grin, also failing miserably in his endeavour – fortunately for both of them Shadow was solely focussed on his new nemesis, half-standing and leaning on the table to imbue his words with more power, more potent vitriol to scour across Rouges' guilt,

"Just my luck, I come in from work, got a package in the lounge I'm told, just for me I'm told; go in there and oh look, it's Sojourner just popped in for a quick chat over a cup of hot tea and warm soldering iron. And just to put the icing on the cake, the complete cherry on the top, he's got The Truth in his other hand; next thing I know I'm getting some free growth therapy courtesy of his mind and the door frame; he's trying to drag me to Haven, I' trying not to go, and then guess who slings their hook into the contest?" The hedgehog threw a contemptuous glance at the echidna next to him, Julie once more trying and failing to look innocent as she too relieved the events he was describing,

"So yeah, I got what you, oh fearless defender of the Master Emerald", Rouge sank even lower in her seat as the hedgehog's scorn swept over her like a bilious tidal wave, "could bear to suffer even before the guardians got hold of me – Mad Maxine over there started pulling my lugs like it was going out of fashion and in the end I had to let go. Of course", the hedgehog sat back in his chair a little more, still trying to get Julie to notice the evil glare he was sending in her direction and not having much success with that endeavour, "that meant Sojourner got hold of me properly; one carpet burn and one Chaos Control later, there I am in Haven with the rest of the lads and a nice video tape on offer".

"And", Knuckles said in a grave voice, his head bowed so his friend wouldn't see the smirk hovering around his face, "I'd guess they weren't that impressed with you?"

"You got that right", the ebon hedgehog agreed viciously, his attention focussed single-mindedly on Rouge as he neglected to pass a sardonic comment on the echidna's stating the blindingly obvious, "so we have a quick viewing, and they ask why – well what can I say? I give them the truth; I needed some information off Spectre to help Julie-Su, an act of charity I've been regretting ever since", he remarked with another nasty look in the ex-Legionnaire's direction, though in her current mood it only made her smile even more, "and he in return wanted a way to make his grandchildren's life as difficult as they made his. I just gave what I thought was a throwaway comment, never expected him to take it seriously – I was as surprised as anyone when that tape landed on your doorstep come Christmas day. You know I'm such a cock-eyed optimist, I thought it had worked", the hedgehog chuckled darkly, seemingly at his own naivety in ever giving such a theory credence as he shook his head slowly, "but of course, I got ahead of myself. I was all geared up to get out of there with life and limb intact when your dad, Knuckles, who's been pulling the strings behind the scene the whole time", the current guardian blinked as Shadow pointed him out; _Locke – since when has he ever done practical jokes at all?_; "makes his move – to cut a long story short, I had the dubious pleasure of enjoying the full hospitality of the Brotherhood, a nice three-course meal to set me up for the rest of the day".

"Umm", apparently nonplussed by this, Rouge had to take a shot in the dark and hope it hit something meaningful, "and very nice too I hope"; _ah_; the ripple of disgust that shuddered all across Shadows' body spoke more than any words could have possibly described; _perhaps not then_;

"Cooked by Athair".

"Ah", Knuckles said delicately, "well, that's a different kettle of fish…"

"Don't", Shadow suddenly exploded, a finger spearing towards the guardian as dark memories from the sediment of his mind were obviously disturbed by his friends' comment, "mention fish, ever again".

Quite understandably there was a bit of a lull in the conversation at this point; everyone seemed to look away from each other, not quite sure what to say next, or if they even wanted to say anything at all. Tension settled over the room so thickly a knife wouldn't have cut it, the atmosphere around the foursome congealing almost as they sat in a brooding, billowing silence, even Julie's former mirth evaporated as the gloom-laden mood afflicted her as well as everyone else. Time slowed to a crawl, every second becoming a rasp to wear the nerves of those who sat there into frayed strips until, finally, something happened to break the moment,

"Sorry".

XXX

Even as the other three Mobians turned their gazes onto her and she flush beet-red from the attention Rouge knew in her heart of hearts that she'd done the right thing on at least two fronts; firstly the tension that had been mounting up until now had just drained away into her embarrassment but secondly and more importantly as far as she could see, she'd done the right thing in apologising. She had made a mistake in trying to be too cocky and been caught; because of her lack of caution, one of her friends had paid a price he should never have been forced to deal with; _especially not like that – man Locke's got a lot crueller over time_. As she managed to bring her face up once more, her cheeks still tinged red from her lingering blush, the former spy was relieved to see Shadow eyeing her up again and looking, if not outright contented, at least a little more mollified than he'd done so far today,

"Sorry?" He repeated the word as though he'd never heard it before, "Really – is that how you feel batgirl? Good; well in that case I don't suppose it matters that for most of last night and all this morning I have been in bloody agony, but I suppose that's okay now you're _sorry _about this whole thing. I mean I really thought that having done a good deed, in fact two good deeds what with Spectre taking my idea at face value and being kind enough to hand a copy of his findings over to us, I should be allow to rest on those laurels without a friend ratting on me, but now that self-same friend says she's _sorry_, I really should just let the matter…"

"Enough already"; _damn it, damn you_; that was the one thing she really couldn't stand about him, she'd never been able to deal with even before he'd taken that last whack to the head courtesy of the Metal Overlord and changed for the better – Rouge detested whining in any shape and form and Shadow had this one manner, the same one he'd used just then, that aggravated her to a complete T, "look I said I'm sorry and I really am – what more do you want Shadow, you want blood? I'd give it you", ready to do just about anything to shut up that unbearable nasal snivel the bat ripped her sleeve upwards, exposing her wrist and thrusting it over the table, almost daring the hedgehog to take his pound of flesh, "if it's what you need to sweep this whole mess under the carpet, it's there".

With a snort as her histrionics Shadow sat back in his seat, away from her bared palm and looking her in the face with a disdainful expression,

"Now normally I'd say don't tempt me, but this time I can't really be bothered. Put it away", he wafted a hand towards her and she did as she was bid, feeling a little foolish at having been riled so easily into such an uncharacteristic fit of pique, "you said it yourself, there's nothing to be done about it now. In fact", his seemingly perpetual grim expression broke a little, the hint of a smile showing in the grim crags around the corners of his mouth, "if anything I'm a bit surprised you came forwards so quickly – I thought for a minute I'd have to start going around with the big beat-stick to get some answers about who told what to whom, well", he added as a spasm of discomfort flitted over his face, "I would have done when I could stand up straight at least". There was a laugh from somewhere; Rouge nearly took off from fright as a sudden grip clamped around her shoulders – by the time she'd realised it was Knuckles who'd hugged her with his closest arm he'd let go again,

"Your lucky day Shadow, my Rouge ain't the sort of girl to leave a friend at a loose end".

"Really", the bat had the distinct feeling she wasn't yet back in the hedgehog's good books as he turned crimson eyes on her, "then who was that other bat who was going around, making mischief about a year and a bit ago – you don't have a sister do you?" Rouge huffed at this; she was as up for a laugh as the next Mobian but enough was enough,

"No I do not and that's as much as I'm going to take", she retorted hotly, standing up to get her point across better, "I've come here on my knees to make amends, in fact I'd planned to take you pair out on a quick trip out, but if you carry on throwing it back in my face I won't bother. Now how's that sound Shadow – you want to lose a trip out over this?"

_There_; as the hedgehog settled back in his seat Rouge felt a little triumph seep back over her; _that put him in his place – everyone's got a limit pal and you just more than hit mine_. She actually felt good about that, as though she'd been forced to eat so much humble pie by both her husband and her friend that she'd deserved the chance to spit some of it back out in someone's face; before she could enjoy herself too much though, Shadow seemed to scrape most of her outburst off his features and look her in the eye again,

"No", his tone was soft, a lot softer than it had been all day as far as she was concerned, heaving towards her in a heavy sigh, "no, you know I wouldn't do something like that. But come on", he chuckled again, the sound lighter this time, more mirthful than actually threatening, "you've got to admit I had a damn good reason to be cheesed off at you this time".

"Too right you did; still", with a clap of his huge hands Knuckles took the matter by the scruff of the neck, "trip out's still on and we're paying; where's good around here?" _Umm, now you mention it_; Julie sized up the couple of local establishments she'd sampled herself with the good reviews she'd had from the office and come up with a compromise between the two and had opened her mouth to answer before, with all the inevitability of rain from a grey cloudy sky, Shadow stepped in to spoil her fun,

"I'll hold you to that one later Knucks but right now I'm in no condition to go anywhere, except maybe to bed", it was true the hedgehog did look tired, large bags under his eyes and yawning nearly every second breath, but that didn't stop Julie cursing him fluently under her breath as she watched him stand up, "sorry but I'm really not up to anything today; I'll see you both sometime later, maybe next week – right now though, and I mean this in the nicest way possible", he said with an exaggerated politeness as he looked Rouge dead on, the bat shrugging fatalistically as she guessed what was coming,

"Get the hell out of my house and stop making my life miserable!"

A minute later, having just laced up her last boot, Rouge was ready to do just that, a little relieved that things had gone about as well as she could have hoped for. Glancing over her shoulder to check Knuckles was ready to go, the bat turned towards to door in time to see Shadow leant against the nearest wall, still regarding her coolly from underneath bristling eyebrows; _okay then pal, one last time just for you_;

"Okay Shadow, thanks for everything", she took a tentative step forwards, relieved when he didn't spring at her, "and I can't stress this enough, I really am sorry, but I had to".

"You didn't have to, you just felt that it was the least painful way to get things done", he corrected her, though he did grudgingly reach forwards and grasp the paw she extended towards him, "ah, I suppose they'd have found out eventually; you know the guardians right?" This time it was the bat's turn to chortle, nodding as she answered,

"Oh you got that much right Shads; I know the guardians very well and yes, they would most definitely have found out somehow. Actually"; _I can't believe I'm going to do this, but I am anyway_; emboldened by her decision she somehow forced out a smile, something like a swagger back in her stride as she smirked towards her hedgehog friend, "if you look at it that way, I actually might have done you a favour – at least this time you got a full belly out of it".

"You wanna go over my knee again?" Shadow's threat made her back down and laugh in the same movement, the irritated hedgehog looking over his shoulder to where Knuckles was doubled over, rasping snorts of laughter tearing up from behind the glove over his mouth, "you and all?" The guardian tried to stand up, looked at his friend and failed, then tried again and this time succeeded, looking like he was doing an insanely fast version of the chicken dance as his wifes' comments brought unfettered laughter bubbling up from his usually well-protected sense of humour. Without further ado and desperate to get them both out the way before things went any further downhill, Shadow virtually frog-marched his guests to the front door and thrust them through it, pausing only long enough to deliver a last promise before he closed them out,

"I'll remember your promised treat batgirl, and take it from me I've got a very long memory indeed. And if it doesn't come up to scratch…" He slapped the back of one hand into the palm of the other, revelling in the way Rouge winced and Knuckles fell about laughing again, the last picture he was able to see before the front door sealed them off from his vision and he was left on his own in the hallway again.

XXX

_Well, that's over at last_; as he dragged himself back towards the front room with sleep singing its enchanting lullaby once more, Shadow felt a weight lifted from his shoulders – no more did he have to stew in his own juices as he fumed and plotted silent revenge against an unknown betrayer; _I know who did it, so I can concentrate on cooking up a revenge scheme just for her_. The thought made him chuckle as he flopped towards the settee, his hand deftly unzipping the sleeping bag even in the darkness around him, the curtains in the room still not drawn despite the morning wearing on; before he could clamber inside the cotton cocoon however, a shaft of light opened up around him, the door to the hallway swinging forwards once more. Just about stifling a groan, the former ultimate life-form flumped onto the opened sleeping bag and swung inside, not deigning to speak to the grinning form of his flatmate until he'd assured his own comfort,

"Come on then", as he finished zipping the bag around himself he shrugged, folding his arm behind his head, "I know you're just dying to make a comment about this – let's get it over with". Julie needed no further invitation,

"Aww, and there I was thinking you'd be angry?"

"You have no idea".

"As Knuckles said, I say I have some sort of inkling", the former Legionnaire exclaimed as she sat on the foot of the sofa, a carefully calculated distance that would allow her to spring away should her needling prove too much for the hedgehogs' already shortened temper, "anyway, I'm off for my run, so I'd like a cup of tea and something smothered in chocolate ready for when I get back – think you can handle that?"

"Julie", Shadow answered after a few seconds with his eyes closed; the echidna stifled her laughter as the notion that he was counting very slowly to ten sprang up in her mind, "you know what I said to Rouge earlier, just before she left? Don't forget you're on the hit-list too, you dropped me right into the Brotherhoods lap after all". Knowing what he was driving at she stood up, smirking broadly now as she delivered a cutting answer,

"Yes, I remember; I also, however, remember you saying something a little different a couple of months back – you said it yourself", she shook her head slightly, the movement making her dreadlock flutter around hr in a mockingly coy gesture, "you'd never lay a hand on me; sure you were telling the truth then, or was that just the wine?"

_Got him, nailed him right between the eyes_; the way his face screwed up told her she'd caught him well and truly out that time – he'd forgotten what he'd said for a second and it was a second she was going to make sure he regretted for a long time. She merely stayed where she was, revelling in his moderate embarrassment, her face only falling slightly as she saw his expression relax again, a smile playing over his face as he looked over at her again,

"No, I was telling the truth that night; I'd never touch you like that, least of all because it'd be a waste of time", he raised an eyebrow as he craned his neck around, trying to look around her, "I could paddle that thing all night and never touch the same spot twice". _Okay, brace for impact_; however the eruption he'd anticipated never arrived – rather than balloon with ire, Julie simply stepped back with the mocking smile still on her lips, if a little more frozen than it had been previously, a rapier to deflect his cruel comment instead of a bludgeon to crush him for issuing it,

"Ah, you're just saying that", she assured him with a wink, turning on her heel and putting a wiggle in her walk as she sashayed towards the door, "you know you'd never dare it". As she'd expected there was a groan from behind her; it took an awful lot of willpower not to look around but somehow Julie managed it, even when the hedgehog's weak moan filtered into her ear,

"Oh put it away", her flatmate whined, though she'd have put good money his eyes were still on her swaying hips as she pushed the door open, ready for her run, "I've already got food-poisoning, I don't need motion-sickness on top of it". Suddenly Julie knew what to do next; slapping both hands at the back of her thighs, the echidna called back,

"Bite me", before zipping away and pretending not to hear the retching noises from the lounge, trying to convince herself she'd got the last word in, just for once – it was fun to squabble fairly with Shadow but, just occasionally, it was even more fun to bend the rules a little and claim a technical knock-out rather than a victory on points alone. _Besides_; she smiled to herself as she tried once more to prepare for the run coming up; _he thinks he's got problems now – you just wait for Monday evening, then I'll show you what a problem really is!_

XXX

Coming to a sudden stop and checking the directions from the small square of paper in her hand, Esprana let out a low whistle as she realised she'd got the right place. It didn't look like much, an old industrial block perhaps, recently converted into a gym-type building, the interior of which was still lit despite the lateness of the hour; though she was some twenty minute early, it seemed someone was nevertheless in. _Just as well_; tugging on her shoulder strap, the chameleon adjusted her bag and heard the familiar slap of water sloshing around in her little bottle; _it's getting a bit nippier out here and I don't want to be hanging around the street corner freezing my tail off_. Putting such thoughts aside, she shrugged her shoulders and marched on, crossing the road and quickly heading into the lee of the buildings' shadow, cocking her head to listen for any noise issuing from within. It was still quiet, however; perhaps it was understandable though, it was highly likely there was only one person in so early in a club that appeared this small. She almost raised a hand to knock out of impulse before she remembered where she was; _what – oh come on_; Esprana chided herself silently, shaking her head as she felt like a fool for betraying such nerves; _they can't be expecting people to knock_. Instead she put her hand on the door, waiting for it to stop trembling a little out of nerves and pushed forwards, letting her slip inside and pull it shut behind her.

Blinking a little, the chameleon quickly caught up with things as her vision compensated for the surprisingly bright light that sprang from the strip lights above her head; from this naked illumination, Esprana was able to see that her first impression had been right – this place was a gym of some description. Old and obviously well-used punching bags hung on chains from bars suspended from the walls and on shelves mounted over the right side of the main hallway several odds and ends were stacked haphazardly. Looking around, she noticed a desk and chair already set up off to her left, obviously intended for people to pay up when the lesson was finished, but before she could discern any more, the chameleon realised she wasn't alone any more; from one of the two open doorways that yawned in the gym's right wall like toothless maws, a sand-furred echidna strode forth and gripped one of the swinging bags; with a grunt of effort, they began to heave it upwards, obviously hoping to unhook it from the ceiling. _Wow_; even as she watched the eye at the top of the bag slid free from the piton sunk into the ceiling easily, the echidna straining with the weight for a second before leaning the bag against the nearest wall; _he's had practise – hey, wait_; he hadn't seen her and she could guess why – slowly reverting to her natural colour, the chameleon gave a quiet cough. After a second of looking around, the other Mobian picked her out in the shadows of the entrance and his eyebrows rose,

"Oh", he cocked his head, apparently sizing her up and wondering if her was dreaming or not; _of course, he won't know what a chameleon is will he?_; Esprana mentally kicked her tail and made to explain the situation but before she could do so the echidna rallied; turning towards the doorway he'd originally emerged from, he called into the darkness, "teacher, someone for you". The chameleon quietly filed that greeting away in the back of her mind as, summoned by the call, another echidna appeared in the main hallway; following her sandy counterparts' arm, this echidna, a light shade of fuchsia by the look of her, noticed Esprana and smiled,

"Ah, new recruit I hope? You are here for the Do classes are you?"

"Uh, yeah, yeah I am", Esprana assured her, slightly startled by the sudden question and thrown out of her stride by the odd pronunciation – the Do that had emblazoned the flyer Vector had picked up was apparently Doe, according to its practitioners, "I'm not too early". The sand echidna chuckled

"The earlier the better far as I can tell, least that way I don't have to get this place running on my lonesome. Er, sorry teacher", he inclined his head respectfully as the other echidna glared over at him for a second before returning her gaze to Esprana again, a serene smile on her lips this time,

"Try to ignore Law over there, underneath it all he's got a good head on his shoulders; now get the little rooms set up before I knock it off them", she called over her shoulders, her counterpart immediately scuttling off to do as she asked, leaving the two women alone for a minute, "anyway, come sit down a minute, and don't look so nervous – honest, we don't bite".

"Oh, don't worry, I'm not scared", Esprana responded by reflex, appeasing now she'd seen the echidnas' face and come to the immediate conclusion that, despite her physical appearance bordering on the unremarkable, this teacher was someone who it would be very unwise to get on the wrong side of, "I just feel the cold, that's all". The echidna shrugged as she settled down behind the desk, motioning for her newest guest to join her,

"We do what we can but the heating in this place isn't what it used to be I'm afraid; it'll soon heat up when the others get here though. Now", she picked up a pen and heaved open a small ledger in front of her, "your name love?"

"Esp, Esprana"; only her previous training in emotional concealment stopped the echidna seeing the struggle – though she knew it was her name, the Mobian who had lived so long a lie as Espio found the mantle of her previous name a heavy burden to carry, "I, ah, I am a chameleon, so that's my surname if you need it".

"Lands below?" At Esprana's nod the instructor continued, "Yes, I've met a couple of Mobians from that neck of the woods; interesting certainly – now how do you spell Chameleon exactly?"

After a few more minutes of quiet communication the topic turned quite abruptly; Tusn-El, the teacher of this club (Esprana had quickly found out that the highest ranked student of Do in a group was always called the teacher by the other members) sat back in her chair and regarded the other Mobian directly – not used to this sort of scrutiny Esprana looked at her shoes, trying hard to think of something to say before Tsun beat her to it,

"Okay, everything seems to check out okay – you will eventually need a license if you decide to stay with us, it'll record you gradings and current rank as well as keep the EST off our backs, but you should be fine for now. Apart from that though, have you ever had or done any martial art training before now?"

"Well, in a way I have", Esprana answered after a minutes' careful thought; better than anyone she knew how difficult ninjitsu was to explain to those who knew nothing about it, "but it was mostly a solitary art, not much working with other people if you know what I mean". Tsun sat back in her seat fingers, steepled as she looked up at the other woman,

"Do you know how to fall – there are a lot of throws in Do, especially with the basic techniques – ah, tell you what. Law", she shouted into the hall at large, rewarded when a second later the other echidna poked his head around the door,

"Teacher?"

"That room finished yet?"

"One or two mats left, the other room's ready to go"; nodding, Tsun turned to Esprana, gesturing her across the room,

"Just give Law a hand finishing up that room and he'll see what standard you're up to; hear that Law, nice and gentle to start with".

"Yes teacher", the student said respectfully before turning his attention to where Esprana was slowly making her way towards him, "hey, shoes off! I have to hoover those mats at the end of the night". Simultaneously bobbing her head in apology and cursing herself under her breath for letting such a basic piece of dojo etiquette slip her mind the chameleon carefully slipped off her shoes and her bag, placing them in the lee of the desk itself, Tsun looking on with a semi-amused smile,

"Don't worry, I give you my word no-one'll be stupid enough to try and nick it". Despite herself the chameleon found herself smiling at the reassurance,

"Thank you; right", she stood up and darted daintily over the main hall, the spongiform mats that covered it cold against her bare soles, "sorry for keeping you waiting Law; I'm ready".

"Good", he took a step back into his little alcove, gesturing her in with a sweep of his arm, "welcome to my patch; just give us a hand with these last couple and we'll get started before the rest of the mob show up".

Despite her outward composure Esprana was a bundle of nerves as she stolidly aided the echidna in fitting the last few pieces of the mats into place, the thick pieces of foam crash-material slotting together like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle; it wasn't so much the company as the conditions that unsettled her so much. She was confined, trapped in here, especially with a Mobian she didn't know and the old memories of what had happened the last time strained at the leash, making her feel distinctly ill-at-ease, especially when Law stood up and stamped down on the last interlocking section, grunting with satisfaction that all was done before turning to look at her. Despite herself she shivered at his movement; it took all her willpower not to bolt out of the cubby-hole and never look back,

"Don't look so nervous", Law chided her gently, mistaking her desperate rearguard action against her ingrained phobias as a simple case of the jitters on her first night, "you heard the boss-lady; nice and gentle, we're just going to see what you know and we'll go from there when the class kicks off proper – look", he raised both hands, a wry smile on his face as he pointed to the door, Espranas' eyes following him the whole way, "if it makes you feel any better, take it from me that if I was to do anything stupid in here, Tsun would kick my tail-end seven ways to Sunday and sling me out on my ear before either of us blinked, and I've worked too bloody hard to lose my seventh-rank now. I'm almost instructor-grade now, so just trust me and try to loosen off; might sound like bull, but you really do land harder if you're tensed up".

"I know that much", the chameleon grated back, just about managing to take a step forwards, "where do we start?" Law pondered for a moment before snapping his fingers, a stroke of inspiration illuminating his mind,

"I know; can you break-fall? That is", seeing his pupil's quizzical glance, he tried to explain himself better, "if you were thrown, can you roll with it?"

"I, know some of the defences to throws", Esprana answered carefully, "if you're talking things like rolling and the drops, yeah I know them".

"Good, that's half the battle won. Thing is Do's got a lot to do with that side of things – you'll spend as much time off your feet as on them here", he explained, noticing the first flickers of a professional interest in the strange Mobians' eye, "if you know how to fall properly, even if you've never been thrown into them, you'll save yourself a lot of time and someone else, me most likely, a lot of hassle".

_Good_; though he knew he wasn't yet in his teachers' league when in came to reading people, Law was greatly heartened to see his student laugh a little, one foot sliding backwards on the mat, a battle stance he was unfamiliar with,

"Glad to oblige", she remarked before offering a hand, "the throws then; what sort of throws do they use in this art then?" He grinned, gripping her wrist lightly and gladdened that, after an involuntary twitch, Esprana relaxed somewhat and braced for a throw,

"Okay, we'll start with the basic forwards roll, usually happens when someone throws you by the wrist like this. Ready?"

There was a fractional pause, ended only when Esprana collected all her thoughts and nodded; a split-second later, she felt herself flying forwards and reacted instinctively – tucking herself in, she thrust an arm forwards and rolled along the length of it; wrist, elbow, shoulder and then, finally shoulder-blades rumbled along the mats as she came to her feet with the grace of a dancer, exhaling explosively with an adrenaline shot re-energising her body. The lock placed on her body by her foul memories was broken just by that; here, in the martial arts, she had found a place where nightmares could not intrude, somewhere she truly felt she belonged and she knew she could call home forever. Her reverie was broken only by a low whistle from behind her – spinning around, she saw Law nod appraisingly and, despite herself, smiled; _glad I'm not a furry now – he'd have caught me blushing otherwise_;

"Pretty nice – can't see you giving us many problems"; _but_; a lifetime of trying to read hidden messages meant the chameleon developed a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach as he made to speak again, "only thing is, and sorry if this sounds rude, but is that actually your nose?" Esprana wasn't sure what he was trying to point out until she crossed her eyes; as the object of his curiosity swam into view she fought to stop herself laughing again,

"Um", not quite sure of the best way to explain this quite literal point of her biology, she decided to play it simple, "in a way yes it is – is it a problem?" Law shook his head but still looked a little troubled as he answered,

"Not now it's not but, er, we might have to think of something clever when we move onto groundwork; you could take someone's eye out with that!"

"I know – useful isn't it?" The echidna shuddered for a second before rallying, trying not to look too hard at where Esprana fingered the tip of her horn proudly,

"Maybe in the street but in here it could be an issue – our insurance premiums are already through the roof, the last thing we need is an actual injury pushing them up again. Anyway", he flapped his hands as though chasing the dilemma away, "that's for older and wiser heads than mine to decide; we don't have much time before this whole thing kicks off proper. Let's try the back roll". As she stepped forwards to get ready, Esprana felt it was her turn to ask a couple of questions,

"So Law", the echidna glanced up at his name; _and that's the next one I need to find out_; "you've been doing this long?"

"Four or five years, give or take", he shrugged, the movement making his dreadlocks ripple like a sandcastle being washed away by the tide, "long enough for Tsun to start treating me as part of the furniture anyway".

"I see; so how…"

"I knew you'd do that", he grinned suddenly, cutting her off with a raised finger, "and it's good you've got questions, but I can't answer them really, not yet at least. Part of Do tradition, the teacher guides every student through the first few lessons, that way the student gets a good education and at the same time the teacher re-learns what she already knew through a fresh pair of eyes. Teach and learn's a big part of Do; first thing you learn is there's no such thing as a dumb question".

That statement struck Esprana perhaps harder than she'd expected it to; a fresh pair of eyes, wasn't that what the Chaotix had been doing this whole time? Wasn't the very fact she was here now a proof of that idea; by doing what he'd done, Vector had suggested a fresh course of action for her – his viewing of her problem, and his proposed solution to it, had resulted in her ending up here, in a little cubby-hole in an old gym with a man she didn't know throwing her every which way but loose. _And the worst thing of all_; all that stopped her laughing was the compression of her chest as she was pushed backwards and rolled to her feet again, a classical backwards roll letting her come to her feet as easily as she had done earlier; _he got it absolutely spot on – I think I really could get to like this place_;

"Okay, no such thing as a dumb question?" Law nodded, not entirely sure where this was going but not liking the signs at all – the sight of the chameleon cocking her head in his direction again made him suspect this was going to get embarrassing,

"In that case then; Law", she drew herself up and he braced himself, "bit of an odd name for an echidna, thought you usually went for double-barrelled names".

"We do", he said shortly, "but not every echidnas' got parents as cruel as mine".

"Oh is that so?" Esprana hoped her humour was showing through as it was all she had now – unmeaningly, Law had smashed into the floodgates at the back of her mind and muddied the water again; _not every echidna has, but there are plenty of them on the land below I'll tell you that_; "Well I won't ask – I know where I'm not supposed to go". The echidna's jaw dropped before he clasped his hands before him, looking for all the world as though he was thanking someone above for a convenient miracle,

"Finally", he breathed, still shell-shocked by the chameleon's restraint, "someone who doesn't…ah, but you'll have to", he shook his head, looking at her squarely again, his expression troubled, "if I don't someone else will, and I've got a reputation to live down to so you might as well hear it from me. Fact is my mum and dad hate me with a passion", his tone suggested otherwise, but Esprana was content to play along for now,

"Can't be that bad, surely?" His expression hardened instantly to a mask of almost bored scepticism,

"My bath toys were a kettle and a toaster; paranoia wasn't a problem when I grew up, it was mandatory. Anyway", he heaved a heavy sigh as Esprana tried to stifle her smile, "laugh at this and I will bounce you off every wall in this gym, but good ol' ma and pa, even before I was too old to defend myself, decided they were going to make my life miserable by giving me a stupid name. I coined the nickname Law soon as I could speak pretty much, anything to stop my beloved classmates asking for legal advice from the guy called Zosu-Mi".

She lasted a couple of seconds but no more, and even then she was discreet, her laughter not even reaching into the main gym itself; that, however, seemed to be little consolation to the echidna she'd not been able to avoid offending. Two bare feet appeared in her vision and as she stood up from her hunched position, forced there by her sudden mirth, a pair of hands clasped her shoulders roughly; she had just enough time to look into his face, see his idea spiralling away in the depths of his chocolate eyes and hear his words of,

"Know how to fall from an overhead throw? I hope so", before she and he both dropped and she was spinning away over his head, twisting and falling as she knew how to, almost as though she was flying for a few seconds in her body, though in her mind and her soul, it felt like so much longer, like she would never really come down again.

XXX

The day had been a little better than he'd previously anticipated, thank God for small mercies; as he sat down at the table Shadow pawed open the paper he habitually brought home with him, looking at where he'd got up to before he'd been forced to go back to the treadmill of his job as he waited for the kettle to boil. It was quite peaceful there, all dressed up and ready to go; in fact he was just wondering where the usual shatterer of such tranquil moments was when,

"Shaaaaa-dddooooooow!"

After a minute of shuddering as he was forced to remember what that noise had meant for him the last time he'd heard it, the former ultimate life-form was able to look around in time to see his flatmate leaning on the doorframe, looking a little ragged but, he noted with consternation, extraordinarily pleased with herself regardless,

"Yeah, what do you want, apart from the obvious face-lift?" Her eyes glittered at the insult,

"Keep that up and you'll get your face flattened, but apart from that", her anger vanished as though it had never been, replaced by something that made Shadow even more nervous; _what's she got to be smug about?_; "I'm just here to get what I'm owed by you Shads, and I don't intend to leave 'til I've got it".

"You'll be standing there a long time then, due to the fact I've not the foggiest about what you're on about", the hedgehog answered in obvious confusion, "just give me a straight answer; what do you want and why?"

"What I want", Julie had obviously decided to cut straight to the chase, "is the promised reward I'm now owed; check the calendar Shady-boy; two weeks are up and twenty-one miles clocked – you did say I'd be in for something nice if I managed it". She fell quiet then, already knowing she'd won; all that was left was for the hedgehog to admit that fact, and he would, no matter how long it took him or how many schemes he dreamed up to counteract it – Julie was adamant that she wasn't going to leave this spot until she'd heard that admission from his lips, and nothing moved her once she made her mind up about anything.

_What is it with me and promises_; Shadow had to ask himself that question as he realised this time he'd been caught well and truly out; _every time I make one I always seem to come off second best_. Now she'd reminded him he had meant to honour their agreement but, circumstances being what they had been over the weekend, he'd taken his eye off the ball and Julie had never needed more than that to bring him down. Now she was waiting for an excuse and as content as the cat that had got the cream, knowing he was unable to do anything about it and, by extension, fully justify her exaggerated claims that he was untrustworthy, forgetful or any one of a hundred other different words she could use to describe what had been a simple mistake. Instead, however, having found nothing that would help him in his book, he turned right around and ripped a page out of someone else's guide to life; he even managed to get the glint he'd last seen in jade green eyes to sparkle in his own crimson ones as he looked up at the echidna and drawled slowly,

"Double or quits".

_Not sure I like the sound of that_; arms suddenly akimbo, Julie looked her flatmate up and down, trying to work out what he was up to this time,

"Okay", she replied cautiously, "explain what that means exactly".

"It's as simple as it sounds; you do exactly the same as you've been doing for another two weeks and there's a bigger, better present waiting for you at the end of it", Shadow explained, shrugging as he saw her shoulders square and knowing he couldn't really win a fight with her on this front, "I only mention it for the simple reason", he glanced down and smoothly amended himself, "simple reasons, in fact, that firstly I admit, with what happened and me being laid up for the weekend it slipped my mind that deadline day was yesterday". He saw celebration in the echidna's face at this confession but he was silently relieved to see it clouded a little by confusion as she brought her arms up, folding them in front of her naturally suspicious mind did all the leg-work for him,

"And the other reason?"

"I think it would do you good to carry on a bit longer", he said baldly, shrugging at her suddenly dumbfounded expression as he gazed at her legs again, "don't get me wrong you've always been muscular, but the running you've been doing's really starting to tone your legs up properly – I think about another fortnight should do the trick and give you a real pair of needle-sharp pins".

Whatever she'd been expecting, he was sure, that hadn't been it; for a second he was afraid she might actually choke and well up but, true to form, she buried her shock behind her former professional training and met his gaze again, only the slightest tremor in her voice betraying how Shadow's unexpected compliment had unsettled her,

"Sounds, uh, fair enough, but I'm not running another two weeks, not entirely", she warned him, a finger etching this out quite clearly in the air, "I'll give you until not this Friday, next Friday coming, to come up with something otherwise you'll never live it down". The hedgehog tapped his fingertips together, seemingly in thought for a minute, before nodding,

"Good idea, in fact make it until next Thursday, that aught to let me get something worthwhile sorted because, let's face it", he adopted a half-regretful, half-pragmatic expression, "you're not a natural born runner, and you're not really trained to do it either; you've worked hard to get this far – get to the end of the week and I'll be amazed but", his expression broke as Julie had known it would – already she was scowling as he dared mock her will and her abilities together, "end of next; nah, my prize is well and truly safe".

"That's what you think Shadow", the former Legionnaire whispered in a deadly undertone, leaning forwards to smile dangerously, "but then again, since when have you ever been right about me?"

"More often than you'd like to admit – 'oh no, I'm sure it's my turn in bed this week' and what colour were the hairs in the washing machine exactly?" Julie stuck her tongue out as Shadow needled her again, thrusting her hand forwards and intoning the sacred words to seal a wager between them,

"Okay Shadow, what we've discussed, I'm up for it. You in?" He took her hand, smiling graciously but with poison, the echidna thought, dripping from his lips,

"Oh yes, I'm in as far as you are Jules; see you in a few days' time, or when you call me from the street, half-dead and desperate for a pick-up".

"Dream on", his flatmate snorted, dropping his hand, "the day I get desperate enough to be picked up by you is the day I drop down dead".

"In case you've forgotten the last time I picked you up you nearly did just that; I wish I knew then what I know now, I wouldn't have just kept walking, I'd have turned around and run the other way".

"You'd have got away with that then", Julie told him, knowing through experience that this was the way things were always going to be between them and, truth be told, she never really wanted it to change, "but I'll tell you this much – by the end of next week you can run all you like because I'll be able to catch you up". Shadow shook his head at that, sniggering under his breath at the notion of Julie being able to keep pace with him,

"Now you dream on; up until then though, use those new pins of yours to move yourself to the oven and get dinner going; I've had a hard day and it's your turn to cook".

She couldn't argue with that, much as she'd have liked to; settling instead for a filthy glare, Julie headed towards the cooker and pulled open a couple of the cupboards, pausing only when she was sure Shadow wasn't looking to glance down, her battle mask softening in benevolence as his words echoed in her head and she realised that, in one way at least, he was right about her; _they do look a lot better than before – carry on like this and it'll be just a few other bits that need working on before we're as good as you-know-who_.

A/N: Let's just hope it's not just desserts Julie's cooking up for her flatmate, or him for her for that matter!

As I mentioned above, this will be the last chapter for a long while; if I get another out before Christmas I reckon I'll have worked a minor miracle. So I hope you enjoy this latest chapter and I hope to get back to you as soon as possible.


	13. Chapter 13 Coping Strategies

Chapter 13 – Coping Strategies

A/N: It's been a long time I know but hopefully it'll be worth it. Just got this online in time for the New Year; good timing if you ask me as I'm giving up writing for one of my resolutions…just kidding! Hope my reviewers are still enjoying the show:

MS – Stop the screaming now; at long last the next chapter is here and ready to go.

Relysis – Same as above; next chapter here; next chapter hopefully won't be all that long in coming (I hope).

Slowly slipping the door open, Esprana darted a glance inside as she withdrew her key from the lock; _good, no-one around_. Nipping inside, the chameleon shook herself down briefly at the same time as blow out a deep sigh - considering she'd had no idea what to expect when she'd signed up to the madcap scheme Vector had come up with just this morning, it had been an extremely interesting evening. Her first evening of trying to learn Do, an echidnean martial art she hadn't known existed less than twenty-four hours ago, was a world away from any of the arts she'd ever practised before; for a start, there were absolutely no weapons involved except those granted by nature, and even then not all of those – during the course of the night she'd seen a couple of the echidnas fitting specialised sheaths of plastic over their spurs when practising techniques that involved working with a partner. _I wonder if there's something like that for me_; it was definitely food for thought as she ran one of her fingertips along her horn, tapping the tip of her own natural weapon as she recalled a conversation she'd had with Tsun during their one-on-one sessions on the mat; _she's right though – I really can't afford to accidentally gouge someone. Hmm, wonder if that's a problem for Tails to turn his mind to_; it was a thought that made her smile a touch – no doubt the foxbody genius could have worked out a solution without breaking a sweat but this was something she wanted to mull over before turning to anyone else. Kicking off her boots carelessly, the chameleon threw them into the shoe cupboard absent-mindedly before striding into the kitchen, wondering if there was anything half-decent left in the fridge when a strange scuffling, clanking noise made her pause; a second later, as the noise came again and the pieces fell into place, she shook her head and raised her voice towards the small cupboard to her left, her tone sharpened with an edge of sardonic, dry humour,

"Well loathe as I am to interrupt your clandestine canoodling", she had to pause for a minute as the cupboard suddenly cursed and clanked more loudly as one of the partners detached from the other; she could only just continue as Vector eventually emerged from within, grime on his hands and a caught-with-my-pants-down look on his face, "you might as well know I'm home again".

"Glad t'ear it", the crocodile grunted, trying desperately but discreetly to wipe his hands clean on the tablecloth as he edged around the table towards the sink, "er, 'ow'd it go in the end?" _Knew that was coming_; just by the sudden crackle of gleeful malice in his team mates' eyes Vector realised it was time to batten down the hatches and brace for the worst,

"Put it like this; it was a lot like yours but I didn't get inky fingers doing it – all right, all right, I'll stop now, for now", she held up her hand to forestall the vengeance being plotted all over Vectors' face; _and a face that size means you can come up with some really convoluted plots_; "no seriously, it was, um… what's the word I'm looking for? Not quite excellent but a bit better than good – enlightening, is that what I'm after?"

"Did ya learn anythin'?" His question drew a snort of laughter, an encouraging sign as far as the crocodile was concerned; he much preferred this new, engageable Esprana to the distant misogynist Espio had usually been, even if he had to occasionally throw out a loose line to encourage a snappy comment – as far as he was concerned it was worth his chafing pride to see the chameleon smile a little,

"Did I ever – apparently the first couple of lessons are taken completely by the teacher, that what they call the most senior leader of the club, kind of like a sensei, so she and I got down on the mats together. I'll say this though", she flexed out her arms as through trying to massage out an attack of cramp, "you spend a hell of a lot of time on the deck doing Do – loads of throws and flip techniques, I'm glad I know how to break-fall, and so are they". Vector nodded, one finger tapping the side of his jaw as he turned her statement over in his mind and seeing the sense in it,

"I su'pose tha's a bonus, saves 'em 'avin' t'teach y'ow t'fall properly. Jus' make sure ya don' end up nobbli' yerself in yer free time; we all gotta work y'know". Esprana raised an eyebrow,

"Just because your hobbies all come with virtually no risk attached, unless you count scaled fingers as a hazard; I know it gets a bit steamy in that cupboard of yours but I imagine your other half can really turn up the heat if she considers herself scorned".

"An' yer'd be right", the crocodile assured her, holding up one of his hands for her inspection, "jus' lucky I've got me thick skin t'protect me frum 'er temper. Still, long as you 'ad a good night?"

"Fantastic night; good find of yours Vec, thanks for that"; _now that's something to savour_; a compliment from the chameleon was a rare thing indeed, or at least had been in the past, so to hear actual praise from her went against the grain and actually made the crocodile acutely uncomfortable for a minute before she turned away, "still, having caught you in the act, what's it worth I don't tell to the other two?"

_Oh_; this was something completely new and, the crocodile admitted to himself as he smiled darkly and let his expression do the talking, not something he was adverse to; _you want to play it like that do you – well that suits me just fine_.

"'Ow 'bout I don't bust out the ice-bucket an' start baptisin' Esprana rather than Espio – I've done it b'fore dun ferget".

"As if I could", the chameleon agreed, a shiver rumbling over her body as she recalled the last time the crocodile had actually carried out that threat; _mind you, I had been a complete pain in the neck for at least a week before that_; "trust me though, I won't say a word – if anything I owed you one for pointing me in the right direction for that club in the first place. Anyway, speaking of the other two", the sense of absence that had been tingling at the back of her mind finally burst onto centre stage, "where are they anyway?"

Vector didn't answer immediately – he was too busy smirking at his team mates' belated realisation that half the Chaotix weren't at home to worry about small things such as words clouding his sense of smugness. However as he saw a shadow start to fall across the chameleon's face and vague hints of Espio began to surface from beneath the thin veneer of the new personality Esprana was trying to build over the top of her former mask, the crocodile was quick to stifle the threat of such an uprising; if he was responsible for dropping Esprana back to square one after what sounded like a night of such progress, he doubted he'd ever forgive himself.

"Ah, don' worry 'bout the other two; Charm's at the shrine wi'one o'the guardians an' workin' out, Might I'm no' so sure of, bu' I think she's out visitin' Jules or sommat; it's Shadow's night out after all".

"Oh, course it is yeah"; _whew_; the danger appeared to be over but Vector wasn't going to let his guard down any time soon – though Esprana didn't notice, her team mate kept a very weather eye on her all the time she was speaking, "so, what's the plan for the rest of the night – it's nearly half-nine now so the other two can't be gone much longer".

"True 'nough; still they're both old an' ugly enough t'look after 'emselves, even Charm now 'e's 'it sixteen. Still, 'ope it's not gunna be too much longer, wanna be in bed b'ten, got the early shift tomorra mornin'". Having poured a glass of water for herself, Esprana raised it in a mock-toast at his misfortune, snickering slightly as the crocodile growled and rubbed his knuckles, scowling,

"My commiserations but right now", stretching off, the chameleon rotated her wrist and winced slightly as there was a sharp cracking noise from the joint; _through considering the number of times it was used to sling me all over the shop, perhaps it's not surprising_; "pass me the bath salts and leave me to soak for an hour or so – I'm taking a bath and an early night". Vector nodded, watching on as she swilled out her glass and plonked it down on the draining board,

"Dun blame ya mate, nuthin' on the box t'get 'cited about. I'll fill th' rest in when they get 'ere, mind if I let'em know y'ad a good night?"

"Why would I mind?" _Damn, damn, damn_; he'd only gone and stuck his big fat foot in it again – Vector cursed himself again as residual suspicions once again flared up in the chameleons' mind, tripping him up at the same time as trying to build a shell around her, block out the rest of the world again. Once more desperate to make amends, the crocodile uncharacteristically spoke before he thought and ended up saying the first thing that popped into his head,

"Thought ya'd be in bed, didn' want 'em t'wake ya up"; _please work, please work_; how he kept the strain of his frantic mental pleading off his face he didn't know as the chameleon looked him up and down searchingly, and when she finally moved away muttering something about that being a good idea it seemed nothing short of divine intervention stopped him sagging in relief. Having pushed his luck so hard the crocodile wasn't willing to risk anything else, not even so much as a light pat on the shoulder as Esprana moved up past him, only releasing his pent-up breath when the other reptile pushed through the kitchen door and was swallowed up by the shadows of the hallway.

_That could've gone a lot better_; not for the first time Vector was grateful his species had no sweat glands – he was sure it would have been rolling off him in buckets if he'd had the ability to perspire. Already, it seemed, his fantasy that his high-risk strategy earlier would mark a new beginning for the Chaotix was beginning to crumble; it was a new beginning in a way but the root problem they all faced, the rebuilding of Esprana from the wreckage of Espio, rather than being solved had instead transformed into whole new set of equations. The crocodile sometimes thought that every day, in fact at the worst of times it felt like every hour, was a continuous battle not to upset the apple cart, but where could he draw the line? Finding the right balance between familiarity and potential offence was a struggle that altered every time he and the chameleon crossed paths these days, and the worst part of it all was that he knew he wasn't the only one suffering, or even suffering the worst of it. Charmy in particular he knew was suffering as he'd had to curtail his tongue quite seriously in order to keep peace in the home and having known the bee as long as he had the crocodile was under no illusion how difficult that was for him; _not that he'd ever admit it_.

That was the other big bone of contention the crocodile was worrying over; the pressure on its own was bad enough but what magnified it unbearably was the fact that the were all alone in this; no matter what happened he, Mighty and Charmy could not go to anyone else in this because by doing so they'd be betraying the one Mobian they were so desperately trying to protect. This conspiracy of silence was alien and disturbing to the crocodile, a strange, skulking feeling that he hated but could do nothing about, his hands in this were well and truly tied; all he could do was try to relieve the pressure by asking the others how they were taking things, but the answers were always more or less the same. Charmy just stuck a smile on his face and breezily insisted he was fine while Mighty shrugged her shoulders and stoutly insisted they had to just square their shoulders and soldier on; Vector would have agreed with both of these statements freely, had he not known such upbeat answers were as false as a sympathy note from Metal Sonic. He could see they others were struggling as much as he was and it was a torment but there was nothing he could do about it save try his hardest not to let his own turmoil show and burden the others – as he flicked on the kettle and tried to focus on the positives that had come from his latest interactions with the delicate chameleon, he couldn't block out the nagging voice at the back of his mind that insisted this was merely a stay of execution.

XXX

_Okay_; opening her eyes again, the chameleon drew in a deep breath and looked forwards into the mirror again; _and breathe – just a simple shift at the shrine, done it a hundred times before_; and it was true, she had done just that. It was just that this time, as it had been for the past half a dozen times or so, she had been doing so having donned the guise of Espio rather than adopting that persona as naturally as breathing. Before he had been a suit of armour, blocking out all the slings and arrows of the world but now, Esprana huffed as she found herself once again looking over her shoulder towards the cocoon she so desperately wanted to break free from but was once again forced to hide within, the mantle of what she now tried to call her former personality hung heavy on her brow like a crown of thorns; _and thorns that are still stabbing me at that_.

More than anything else the chameleon wished that last statement was untrue – though she tried to make sure she didn't slip back into what Mighty delicately termed as 'bad habits', deep down she knew that more than once the shade of Espio had risen up and tried to drive away those trying to exorcise him, a stubborn, bitter old ghost reluctant to leave despite the fervent wishes of both her friends and, more importantly, herself. She tried, as cliché as it was to say such a thing, it was the truth nevertheless; to quote the old story she'd heard a lifetime ago, despite Pandora's' box being opened for the world, or in this case the Chaotix, to endure, there was at least a vestigial trace of hope remaining; _if only it wasn't so hard to see sometimes, especially when I'm on duty and having to pretend again. Of course_; irritation rose in her like stings after walking through a clump of nettles; _the others treating me like I'm made of talcum powder doesn't help – it's not like I'm terminally ill or anything, there's no need for them to talk to me like I'm about to drop down dead at any minute. I just wish they'd treat me normally now – it was better before, at least they spoke to me normally then, not like..._

_...Stop it!_

With a strenuous effort Esprana forcibly slammed the coffin lid down on such negative thinking, already cursing her male alter-ego for mounting such an insidious, and so very nearly successful, attack on her new ways of life. Logically cycling her reasoning through her mind, the chameleon fought back against her lapse in concentration – of course the others were treating her differently than before, that was only to be expected; had she not just gone through a severe form of mental trauma, exposing scars that had been left festering for many painful, wasted years? _And beyond that even_; focussing on happy things as best she could the chameleon let her memory play back over selected areas in her past, happy times with the familiar faces who were standing by her even now, now when all Espio had ever done was to try to drive them away forever; _it's natural they're acting different now – it's because they care about me_; once again she was forced to ignore spiteful mutterings that this acceptance of charity was a weakness that any worthy Mobian would try to expunge from their system, and once again it hurt her heart bitterly that such malignant voices were raised in her head at all, that she was still so blinkered as to listen to them even for an instant; _they've always given a damn about me. God alone knows why_; she gave a slight snigger at the sudden spark of black humour, the smile lingering on her face for a moment as she carried her thoughts forwards to their conclusion; _but they do care, and I should be, and am, very grateful to them for that even if I don't always show it. They speak differently to me now because they don't want to, to…what's the right word? Hurt me, no_; the chameleon pondered, seeking a way to phrase what it was that her squad mates were trying to avoid when they treated her a little to the left of completely normal; _they've never been trying to intentionally hurt me, but perhaps regress, trying not to knock me back into the embrace of my other half_; the backhanded insult made part of her, the part she'd relied on for so long and now wanted rid of, bristle and writhe in impotent fury – Espio had never been able to take a joke and now Esprana could use such humour as a means of both escape from his insidious clutches and to beat him down as and when he reared his ugly head; _so I'm grateful for them to that – after all_; standing up, the chameleon smiled to herself as she moved towards the door, pulling her jumper down more fully to try and block out the winter chill; _who'd want to be like him?_

XXX

Despite herself however, the transition from Esprana back into the old skin of Espio was much easier and, more concerningly, much more comfortable than she'd have liked; by the time she exited the tunnel and entered the main body of the Master Emerald shrine, she was sure no-one save the other three Mobians in the world who knew her deepest secret would have been able to tell that she was putting on an act at all, so persuasive was her characterisation of the misanthrope she'd been portraying for years. A wolf; _no, actually the opposite_; the irony of her situation almost threatened the break the charade for a split-second before she stifled the expression beneath a blanket of dour sternness; _a sheep in wolf's clothing, just waiting for the right moment to slip the leash completely_. With this thought and the knowledge that someday, somehow, she would finally know liberation from the prison her painful past had locked her in sustaining her, Esprana felt the grip of her lies loosen around her even as the raised the arm of the most solid ghost she knew and spoke once more in his grave, grated voice,

"Good morning all", as the two figures looked over at him, Espio stepped forwards into the light of the Master Emerald, the green light it radiated casting him in an unhealthy, sickly pallor, "don't stop on my account – I'm sure your conversation has ramifications beyond my mere comprehensions, so don't let me interrupt them".

As she always seemed to, Esprana noted as one of the two figures reclining on the steps in front of her noticed her presence, Rouge seemed to have resigned herself to the inevitable fact that she was never going to be rid of her least favourite member of the Chaotix and had instead settled for the next best thing, a coping mechanism to deal with Espio's obnoxious character. As the chameleon and Charmy swapped split-second glances of apology and understanding, the bat sat up straight, closed her eyes and took in a deep breath before looking forwards again, the expression of greeting on her face so sincere that only a master at reading body language would have been able to denounce it as phoney,

"Esp, good to see you again".

"Likewise"; _sorry batgirl_; she was forced to keep up appearances and, knowing Espio would never say more than he had to, was thus forced to terminate her conversation early despite knowing now that she'd have loved nothing more than to apologise for all the hurt and misery she'd caused both the bat and her guardian husband; _but right now, it's just not the right time – believe me though, one day I will make this all up to you, to both of you_; "my shift now, so both of you can get on with what you need to do and get out of my way".

"Nothing would give me more pleasure", Rouge spoke back tonelessly through a fixed smile, mind already occupied with a hundred and one things that would have done just that, most of which involved the chameleon before her in various uncomfortable situations and herself with a decent ringside view to them all, "so, all set for tomorrow Charmy?"

"You bet", sensing the opportunity to get some time alone with Esprana rather than Espio, the bee played the best part he could to remove Rouge from the scene as surreptitiously as possible and, most importantly, without alerting the former spy to the skulduggery that was afoot, "looking forwards to it already. I'll work on the kicks you showed me tonight; I know", the insect raised his hands placatingly, "I've been a bit lax recently".

"Just a bit", one half of his instruction team teased lightly, a knowing smile on her lips as he shrugged self-depreciatingly, "come on now, Christmas is well and truly over, no excuse for not being back in the groove now"; _if only you knew_; the words almost came to him unbidden but Charmy reined in his tongue; _but you'll hear from the Mobian who's got a right to tell you, not from me – I made a promise to keep those secrets until Esp's ready, and a promise made by me is a promise sure as hell kept by me_; "and take it from me you'd best be ready", just about tuning back in from his own dire thoughts, the bee managed to catch the tail end of Rouge's sentence as she let her head fall lightly onto her fingers, pinching the bridge of her nose as though trying to massage out a persistent headache,

"I'll need someone other than Knuckles to take the stress out on", dropping her hand, the guardian released a wry smile at the audience of two before her, one lending a close ear and the other appearing singularly disinterested, "try as I might I can't avoid this one; Sonic and Amy are both due up here some time in the next couple of weeks".

At this announcement Charmy's eyes lit up and he leapt into the air, turning a full somersault with the aid of his wings – with this unexpected bonus he'd be able to say a covert thank you to the pink hedgehog for the invaluable information she'd thrown his way earlier. Unfortunately, though she was equally as intrigued as her insect counterpart in the information, Esprana was forced to act in character and as such restrained her emotions to a mere folding of her arms and curt question,

"I see; what's the occasion? Amy managing to stay in university for half a year, a milestone in its own right I suppose". Sensing rather than seeing the bat behind him bristle at his teammate's caustic tone, Charmy quickly nipped in to pour oil over troubled waters,

"No, not to do with her apparently; didn't you say it was something to do with Sonic shinning up the greasy pole another couple of notches, being promoted apparently and now looking for something to splash the cash on. And why not?", the bee ventured bravely, folding his hands behind his antennae in a gesture of carefree indifference, "If anyone deserves a holiday after their hard work it's him and Ames".

"And if anyone'll deserve a holiday after they've landed here it'll be me", Rouge put in, massaging her eyes as it appeared her phantom headache made another appearance, "Sonic's enough to drive me up the wall as it is and worse, from what Tails was telling me it looks like he's started to convert Amy to the same way of thinking. Espio"; _that's enough from you pal_; though it was true there was little love lost between the world-renowned blue blur and herself, mostly due to their complete inability to get along and rub shoulders together without riling each other up royally, Rouge tended to regard insulting Sonic as her personal enjoyment and therefore the highly audible and offensive sniff the chameleon issued during her statement was more than enough to light the fuse on her already touchy temper, "you have something to add?"

"Much as we tend to disagree Rouge", the chameleon began, thinly amused at the same time as disappointed in herself that she couldn't tell the truth, had to lie again when she had told herself there'd be no more mistruths, no more smoke and mirrors in her life, here she was lying because she had to for now – struggle as she might in her head now, she just didn't feel ready to reveal herself as Esprana to the world yet; loathe him she might do, but for now she needed Espio, just for a little longer, "here is the one point you and I agree on. I too am at a loss to understand how Sonic is fit for any kind of manual labour – in all honesty I thought he'd wither up and die once Eggman, his main nemesis, was incarcerated"; _even though I thought nothing of the sort_; if she was perfectly honest the chameleon hadn't thought of the blue hedgehog very much at all – it had just been bad luck that had let Rouge hear her sniff deeply at an inopportune moment, and just by the look on her face it was clear the bat was not taking her answer as a compliment at any level,

"Well doesn't that just go to show you that anyone spring a surprise, something I'd expect any halfway-decent ninja to be prepared for", the tone was one of supreme condescension and absolutely guaranteed to raise Espio's hackles, but this time even as the bat braced herself for a struggle of words and, if needs be, a physical challenge to defend the name of her friendly nemesis when he wasn't present to protect his own honour, she saw that this time the guarantee was invalid.

Rather than snap back at the taunt the chameleon didn't react, merely turning his shoulder and looking towards the door, an obvious hint that he wanted to be left alone,

"Whatever Rouge; anyway, I'm sure you've better things to do than hang around here all day. If nothing else", the bat almost fell back a pace as she saw the chameleon smile, though it wasn't so much the expression as the actual warmth she could see lurking deep within the expression that shocked her, "I can at least help your protégé improve – some of the most recent techniques I've learnt could prove most useful to him".

"Useful? What're you on about Esp? Since when have you started learning a new martial art, and more to the point what is it?"

"It's a new…in fact probably a old martial art called Do, not do", the chameleon stated firmly, Law having impressed into her at a very early stage that most practitioners of the echidnean fighting tradition took a very dim view of anyone mangling the pronunciation of the name, "there's a class that meets twice a week now, so I decided to go along and see if I could pick up an few new tricks. As you said yourself earlier", once more the chameleon smiled, the glee in her expression now as much to do with catching the bat out as play-acting Espios' normal reactions to standard conversation, "a ninja is never without a final trick up her, or his sleeve".

"I guess not", she replied disinterestedly, though inwardly Rouge felt her head spinning as she tried to process this new information and found it got stuck immovably in the cogs of her mind; _since when has the wall-crawler ever trained with other people – I thought ninjitsu was a self-proclaimed 'solitary pursuit'_; "as things stand though you're dead right – like this place I might do but in a toss-up between it and the chance to help Lara pick up a last couple of things for when Kneecaps finally makes his big appearance, you know which is coming second".

"Too right I do", Charmy chipped in, making a save for his team mate as he could tell how much of a burden Esprana was under at the minute having to act like someone she now despised; _now it's up to me and the rest of the guys to shoulder that burden, as much as we're able to at any rate_; "I hate shopping".

To his astonishment the bee saw both women smile; however as she'd been expecting a funny remark and kept her eyes on him the whole time, Rouge failed to spot the expression that whipped over the chameleons' lips for a second,

"Well I do, especially when", with a twirl of her wrist and a flash of a gleeful smile, the former government agent appeared to conjure a thin strip of plastic card from mid-air, beaming at it as Charmy rolled his eyes, "I'm not the one footing the bill – I keep telling him to keep his cards in his wallet but will he listen?"

"Obviously not; old habits really do die hard batgirl?" Without waiting for an answer and secretly hoping she wouldn't get one and therefore have to perform this ridiculous charade any longer, Esprana flopped down and brought her knees in, a classic lotus position from which she regarded her erstwhile employer, "Give my regards to your husband when you see him, assuming he's not trying to beat you to a messy pulp when he realises you've been thieving off him again".

"Assuming of course he ever does find out that is", the bat reminded her with a dark, devious wink as she strode confidently towards the exit, "the mark of a good thief, or assassin for that matter, is not to get caught; the mark of true greatness is to never let your crimes be discovered in the first place, a lesson in there for you perhaps Esp? Compared to me you're bound to get found out – how can a ninja hide the bodies?" _That nailed him_; as the chameleon seemed to settle into his normal meditative trance Rouge patted herself on the back for putting the obnoxious reptile back in his place but just before the warm glow of victory began seeping through her, Espio surprised her by answering, an expression she definitely didn't like affixed to his face, a smile of equal parts disdain and desire,

"I'm not sure Rouge, but I reckon a couple of words into a certain guardians' ear and I might get the chance to solve that little conundrum – how'd you prefer your impromptu funeral, cremation or at sea?"

The taste in this last answer was so bad Rouge didn't even grace it with an answer; instead looking like she'd just bitten into a raw bitterroot, the bat nodded a goodbye to Charmy and turned on her heel, stalking away without even so much as a scathing glance towards where the reptile sat. Esprana watched her go and was relieved by it – as far as she was concerned now that had been both below the belt and far too close to the knuckle to be comfortable; Espio might have made a habit of delivering lines like that but as far as she was concerned that was one of things that was going down with him. _Apart from that though_; running the conversation, prickly as it might have been, back through her mind the chameleon couldn't see too much else wrong with her performance; _it could've gone a lot worse. In fact_; just to make sure she was reading everything right, she turned about on the floor and looked across, hoping to see the picture through a different pair of eyes,

"How'd it go?"

XXX

Once more the same question; once more, he was forced to deliver the same answer, the words emanating somehow from the numb, anesthetised mass of neurones he'd been forced to make his brain in order to pull through from one day to the next,

"It went fine Esp", the bee heard his own voice coming from what felt like a long way away; it was only by a colossal force of will that he was able to drag his consciousness forwards to the present and inject some much-needed feelings of reassurance and comfort to his tone, "that last bit especially, cutting up to a point but you pulled out at just the right minute. Why'd you do it though?"

"Do what?" The chameleon looked perplexed by the question – Charmy bit back a sigh as he filled her in,

"Let yourself get drawn in like that – okay Sonic's not everyone's cup of tea but you know what him and Rouge are like. I mean I know they fight like ferrets in a sack most of the time but back one of them into a corner…"

"Oh no, no Charmy"; _guess he must have heard me too_; having finally figured out the discrepancy between what the bee had heard and what he'd thought he'd heard, Esprana was more than happy to fill him in on the truth of the matter, "I actually didn't mean anything by that, I was really just clearing my nose. I should have known though", she shrugged, a rueful smile just about forcing its way onto her lips as she looked over at her insect companion long-sufferingly, "of all the times to get a blockage, it has to be in front of the guardian with super-sensitive hearing right?"

"Yep, bum luck that is and then some", the bee agreed before hopping off his seat, stretching off towards the roof before flexing his wings and taking flight, "anyway, going on your earlier question yes, there are a lot more places I'd rather be than here, though I'm first to admit", he ran his palm over the top of his head; _uh oh – I know what that means_; "of all the reasons I wish to vacate the premises, your exquisite company is certainly not one of them Esprana". The chameleon shivered for a minute before her expression hardened somewhat and she curled her body up, almost around itself, a picture of defence in the face of this new and unexpected attack,

"Don't even think about trying to hit on me Charmy Bee", she told her amorous friend in no uncertain terms, though there was no nasty edge to her voice as she set him firmly on the right track, "Mighty might be inclined to put up with it occasionally but I'm not…not quite there yet. Come on", she laughed, an outpouring of mirth so unusual to the bee's experiences with his team mate that he almost dropped out the air in shock, though thankfully she didn't seem to notice as she finished her explanation, "half the time I still think I'm Espio and the other half I'm actually pretending to be him and if there was one thing he didn't take kindly from other people it was a joke".

"Just one thing?" More to cover his own slip-up than for any other reason Charmy let his tongue take over and say the first thing that occurred to it, "I could give you a list as long as your arm about things he didn't like but you will; oh yes", more back in his stride now, the bee pointed a promising finger at where Esprana was still sat down and looking up at him sceptically, "you will get to enjoy them Esprana, you got the word of Charmy Bee on that one and I never break a promise I make".

"Unless you count promising you hadn't eaten the last bag of Vector's popcorn; I empty the bins remember and the wrapper was definitely in yours sunshine"; _cruel maybe, but at least I'm being nice with it_; fully justified to herself, Esprana continued ticking off her fingers as the litany of proof belying Charmy's whiter-than-white last statement grew and grew, "or when you promised Knuckles you'd take over his shift, nice save Mighty made for you there – you going to get going now or am I going to have to go down to using toes for these?"

Scowling, the bee pulled a disgusted face and stuck his tongue out before jetting away, back towards the teleporter; watching him go, Esprana let her head fall forwards, a pensive expression on her face before she brightened, reasoning things through and deciding that, all things considered, it hadn't been such a bad morning after all. Far from perfect she was first to admit but a lot of that could have been quite easily and reasonably been attributed to bad luck rather than malicious intent; _best of all though_; once more she glanced down towards the teleporter tunnel, genuine warmth of a kind the others doubted Espio had ever possessed on her face as she thought about the feedback she'd just received, the praise Charmy had given her, worth more than its weight in gold and doubly precious because she knew it was something she'd earned off her own back, hadn't had to intimidate the bee into giving her the way she would have done in her previous incarnation; _I finally figured it out after all – it doesn't matter how strong you are, how tough you think you might be, but without people there to back you up, you really are nothing. And I_; suddenly she found herself sniffing again, eyes almost brimming with sudden tears as she concluded her thought; _somehow, I managed to fall in with and keep the best possible kind of friends._

XXX

As his feet touched the floor again Charmy felt his strength all but desert him; falling forwards into the pitch blackness of the tiny teleporter room he found a wall more by luck than judgement and collapsed against it, shivering and with his eyes buried in the crock of his arm. As much as he tried to remind himself that this was a better way, that by supporting the Chaotix as it was now he was helping to build a brighter future for his adopted family, still the void opened beneath his feet and tried to suck him downwards, the weight on his mind crushing him into the depths of the suffocating pit despite his best attempts to heft it from him.

_It's not hopeless_; that was the only thing, the one bare, naked fact that allowed the bee to see a possible sliver of light at the end of this dank oubliette; _but why does it feel that way if it's not?_ That was a question he knew the answer to, much as he didn't like to admit it – the basic reason he, and the others because he knew they were suffering at least as much as he was, were on the verge of falling apart mentally was Esprana, and the most galling aspect of that state of affairs was that none of it was the chameleon's fault; _after all, if I'd just forced to re-live that and change everything because of it, God forbid, I'm certain I'd want a bit of reassurance as well. But that's just it_; though not an angry Mobian at heart, Charmy nevertheless found himself grinding his teeth as he sought to break this impregnable seal, unlock this impossible puzzle – Esprana had changed, and all for the better, but at the same time she was always checking with the others that she was doing the right thing, just as she had just before he'd left the shrine.

Originally this questioning had been just fine, in fact both he and Vector had been very keen on it as to them it demonstrated true remorse on the chameleons' part, but now after almost two solid weeks of the same questions over and over, it now seemed like a form of torture more insidious and effective than anything Espio had ever devised. Through no fault of her own, Esprana now seemed to need almost constant reassurance that what she was doing was right and, of course, what else could anyone say except that it was – would it be right for them to say that they didn't really know, or would that be doing more harm than good, a tightrope the whole Chaotix now had to tread every time the chameleon asked her dreaded question. _And that's before you add on everything else_; the bee shuddered once again as he delved for an instant into those dire memories once again – everything that had occurred since Christmas but most especially the events of the weekend before last were still so fresh in his memory that even thinking about them made his breath catch with a painful hitch.

Sometimes he wanted so much to just go sprinting down the street, screaming about everything that had happened at the top of his lungs that he had to physically check himself from doing so, the thought of releasing all this mnemonic sewage from his head was so tempting, but he knew it was something he could never do. Never, not if he ever wanted to be able to look Esprana in the eye again; there was a chance, slim maybe but a chance nevertheless, that she'd forgive him such a monumental stunt but there was no chance he'd ever forgive himself. _So, just one thing left to do_; trying to pull himself together as best he could, Charmy fumbled around in the darkness until his palm slapped down on the release catch for the door and he emerged blinking into the dim light of the basement area; _just relax, put it to one side and go from there – this will all sort itself out soon enough and one day we'll look back on it all and laugh._

Cheering as that last thought was however, it didn't impart any warmth to the false grin he hastily slapped on his face, nor did it do more than apply a plaster to the gushing wound the bee still felt deep in his heart and soul, an internal wound deeper and more debilitating than even the cruellest cut from any knife still pumping phantom blood and threatening to swamp even his normal demeanour under a rising tide of black, dour pessimism about the future.

XXX

_Funny how things seem easy when you're in a good mood_; leaning against the brickwork at her back, Julie entertained the idle thought as it slipped into her mind and she paid it some off-hand attention as she waited for her running partner to appear; _normally I'd have been struggling that last quarter-mile or so – must be because this time I really had something to look forwards to at home_. That much was certainly true, in fact it was so true that as vaguely distinguishable blob appeared on the horizon, arms and legs pumping frantically as it tried to speed up even further, the former Dark Legionnaire found herself forsaking her normal decorum and calling back down the road towards him,

"Come on you unfit youth of the nation – no wonder the council's spending so much trying to get echidnas off their tails and into the gym if you're anything to go by". Luckily for her the figure seemed to preoccupied by keeping his breath to answer until with an ungainly stumble he came to a halt; breathing deeply and coughing, Kadu looked up at where his workmate leered down and scowled,

"And no wonder they've stopped trying to get echidnas out the Legion and re-integrated back into society if you're anything to go by", he riposted, coughing one last time before straightening up again, "anyway, unlike you I happen to be suffering still with the typical seasonal cough and cold, so lemme in where it's warm". Julie said nothing but stepped to the side, her younger workmate quickly scampering past and darting into the lobby of their apartment block, the contented sigh that greeted her as she steeped inside informing her that he found the more ambient temperature within the building infinitely preferable to the chilly air and biting wind outside,

"Well", he looked around as she shrugged her shoulders, the picture of innocence save for the sly grin on her lips, "sure you can survive your man-flu for a few more minutes or will the stairs prove to be too much for you?"

"They better not", Kadu muttered, sniffing deeply in a manner that made Julie's teeth grind; _spirits above I hate that habit_; "no doubt you'll be kicking me up those stairs if I can't get there under my own steam". Her jaw dropped, a gesture of wounded generosity,

"Kadu I'm hurt; what makes you think I'd stoop so low as to do such a thing?"

"How much time have you got?" His answer, despite herself, brought a smile to her lips; _he really does know me far too well_; "Not least because you've told me more than once you'd do it anyway".

"Yes but on those occasions I think most of typing pool four would agree with me when I said you deserved it", the former Legionnaire informed him, a sheepish grin eventually breaking out over the other echidnas' face as her beady eye broke him down, "there is a time and a place for a water pistol duel and in the middle of a large room full of computers that cost the EST a lot of money to buy and run is definitely not one of them".

"Bah, Huka couldn't shoot straight if his life depended on it anyway", he answered dismissively before turning towards the stairs; just as he mounted the first one however, a thought seemed to occur to him and he looked over his shoulder at where Julie had just grabbed hold of the rail, "though forget that for a minute, something tells me you've been holding out on me soldier-girl".

It was his tone more than anything else that made the other echidna purse her lips; _what's his game this time?_;

"In what way, and don't call me soldier-girl; I hate that name".

"And I don't like being called tea-monkey - no-one seems to remember that either", Kadu mused before raising his voice and getting back on the topic, "but what I meant to say was you've got a lot quicker recently. No way you'd have beaten me back by that much a few months back Jules, you've been doing a bit of practise on the side haven't you?"

"In a way I suppose"; _never thought of it like that_; truth be told, the echidna had been so focused on grinding her flatmates' face into the dust that she'd never even considered the extra running she'd been doing would improve other aspects of her daily life. This tame admission was never going to be enough for Kadu however; once he had an idea in his mind he sank his teeth in and didn't let go,

"Oh is that right? Now is it just me or is this something to do with the Mobian upstairs?" Following his finger as it pointed upwards towards the fist floor, Julie raised an eyebrow and let slip a small smirk,

"It might be something to do with him yes".

"Are you going to tell me?"

"What do you think?"

"You didn't let me finish", the younger Mobian said smoothly with a smirk of his own, "I meant to say are you going to tell me or am I going to have to bug it out of you? I can do it too you know", he added for dramatic effect; _and the worst thing_; Julie found her mind racing as she tried to deflect his curiosity with an evil scowl; _he could do just that – hmm, better try to make this as painless as possible_;

"Okay, long story short; bet going, lots of running involved from me, Shadow about to rue the day he made the deal because I just won". Kadu seemed to digest her words for a minute before shrugging, still moving up the stairs and answering her over his shoulder as they neared the first floor landing,

"In more ways than one you won", he commented dryly, hoping against hope he was succeeding in ironing his face straight this time, "but Julie, I'm surprised; did you not for a minute think that he might have had an ulterior motive for making this bet with you?"

_Ulterior motive?_; not sure she liked where he was going with this, the Legionnaire approached the subject with care, eyes narrowed in case she really wasn't enamoured by what she heard next,

"What do you mean by that Kadu – I'll admit sometimes his heart can be as black as his hide but he's got better recently".

"Oh I know, but by you running, building up your stamina and pumping your leg muscles, did it never occur to you what he might have been doing as well?" Just from her expression it was clear he had her this time and with a flourish and a grin, he went for the throat, "Think about it – I don't know where you think women with strong legs and bags of stamina perform best but I could take a rough guess, and from what I've heard so far so could Shadow – what? Aw", seeing her face reddening and inwardly praying it was due to embarrassment rather than anger, the younger Mobian pressed on recklessly, "don't worry about it Jules, be grateful; he's probably only doing it to make sure you get to enjoy it as much as he does".

_Every time_; even as she forced his insinuations away from her ears and tried to control her temper, never a docile beast even at the best of times, in a distant corner of her mind Julie once more berated herself for falling into the younger echidnas' trap – her normally highly alert paranoid streak seemed to desert her whenever Kadu was involved in the proceedings. Finally snapping her eyes open, Julie quickly assessed the situation and found it looking even grimmer than she remembered it; not only had the impudent git committed verbal murder, perched as he was on the first floor landing with at least a five stair advantage over her, it looked like if she made any kind of move towards him he'd probably get away with it too. Because of this lack of options and the fact her blush was miraculously subsiding already, Julie merely grimaced again and seized the nearby railing in a death grip, using it for leverage to heave herself up a couple more steps ponderously as she glared towards Kadu,

"Now normally", she began, lurching upwards a little more, closer to the target, "that's the sort of talk that'd have you dangled off the second floor balcony by your ankles but, luckily for you", she reached the landing and shot her workmate a last glare before mellowing such an expression out into a look of weary, if slightly excited, anticipation, "as today's the day I have won the aforementioned bet with the aforementioned hedgehog, I'm not in the mood to go wasting time trying to batter a bit of sense through that skull of yours – I've got a much more tempting prize in the offering". His eyes lit up and, as is so often the case with males of a certain age at a certain level of excitement, opened his mouth before engaging his brain,

"So I was right then – only someone in deep with him could admit to finding Shadow a tempting…"

_Should have made sure I was further away before I made that last shot_; just for once as Kadu's mind reached that logical conclusion his body whimpered in agreement, the one arm he had left not halfway up his back in a crushing lock flailing for purchase as the rest of his body teetered precariously half-over, half-behind the banister, the floor of the hotel lobby swimming before his eyes as Julie's voice filtered into his ears, the augmented echidna in complete control of the situation and, he realised with a sick lurch of fear, more than capable of tipping him over the edge to his doom without much more than a flick of her fingers,

"Now Kadu", he briefly nodded his head then regretted it, vertigo making him feel weakly nauseous, "even if I was to find Blackie tempting, let me tell you here and now he's not as tempting as the notion of seeing how big a dent you'd make in the downstairs floor is now".

"But", his lips were dry but he forced the words out anyway, "but…that's murder!"

"You'd survive", she assured him before to his everlasting relief he felt the lock lifted slightly and the toes of his boots skimmed the bare linoleum of the first floor landing again, "especially if you landed on your head; I reckon the floor would probably come of second best if that happened. Still, as things stand I'm letting you off this once, assuming you've learnt your lesson about rubbing me up the wrong way", this time Kadu did let out a heartfelt sigh as he felt himself return to earth, though this was quickly overwhelmed by a sudden yelp of pain as one of Julie's toecaps suddenly buried itself in the seat of his pants, almost hoofing him halfway to the second floor as he turned around, blurred vision just about picking out the evil grin on the ex-Dark Legionnaires' face,

"That's just a reminder – don't do it again Kadu, I mean it".

"And I mean this", the younger echidna moaned as he gingerly hobbled off towards his own front door, every movement sending another ache up from the area Julie had recently tenderised; it was a slow process and he continued only when one hand was around the top of the banister post at the base of the first floor landing, "after that I solemnly swear I won't be rubbing you up any more at all – as far as I'm concerned now that's Shadows' job and he's more than welcome to it". Julie batted her eyelashes, smiling sweetly,

"Aw, you say that now but you'd miss me too much to stay away for long".

"I'd miss you, huh", Kadu snorted with a contemptuous flick of his dreadlocks, "I might at first but my aim'd get better eventually; oww, I'm not going to be able to sit down tonight ". With that he turned away and was gone up the stairs, by serendipity missing the rude gesture Julie flicked at his retreating back before she got cracking on the door in front of her, a new desire burning in her veins now as she was through the appetiser; _right now Shadow_; she barely contained a grateful hiss as her key popped the lock and she was in; _unless you've got one hell of an ace up your sleeve, you are my next and main course!_

XXX

He heard the key in the lock, the slamming of the door, the rush of shoe-clad feet on the carpet in the hall; it was only when he heard the kitchen door fly open that he reacted al all,

"I know exactly what you're going to say"; _that put her gas at a peep_; from his crouched position in front of the cooker Shadow was only grateful his flatmate couldn't see his expression anywhere like as well as he could picture hers – the way her jaw would have hung open for a second in stupefied shock that he'd stolen the initiative so neatly was so clear in his minds eye that he had to linger on it, if only for a split-second, "and all I have to say on the matter is don't get your hopes up, I have everything under control".

There was silence for an instant, in fact Shadow was on the verge of whistling a merry tune just to see what would happen if he did, when a disbelieving snort issued from the kitchen door and he heard a chair scraping back across the floor,

"First time for everything; okay then, I'll bite", looking over his shoulder, the hedgehog at first saw his flatmates' knees before he craned his neck up to see her glaring down at him, "what've you got lined up for me?" Pushing himself to his feet, the other Mobian stood up from where he'd been crouched for most of the afternoon and stretched off, the vertebra in his back crackling like popcorn as he did so, making them both wince,

"Ohh, been needing that", he commented gratefully before flicking the door to the oven closed with his heel, hearing it bang into place with the usual muted thump, "got it sorted in the end, just took a bit longer than I expected, but I managed to get all the heat-lamps changed, the other two were starting to go".

"All three?" Julie glanced past him towards the oven itself, "How old is that bit of kit?"

"Dunno, it was here before I was", the black hedgehog commented off-handedly, rubbing the back of his neck, "but anyway, those new elements are insured for at least six months so hopefully we won't have to bother with the until the summer – just as well, I don't intend to lose another half-day's leave to fix a domestic appliance; next time it's your turn, unless"; _okay_; seeing the expression on his face darken and deepen simultaneously, Julie bristled and braced herself for the worst; _brace for impact_; "you'd swap this favour I owe you for that?"

His offer was so tame and, she admitted to herself, so blatantly opportunistic that she had to laugh at it; as far as she was concerned it only proved what she'd suspected all along, that he really didn't have a clue what to do now she'd proved herself better than him and beaten him at his own running bet,

"Not a hope", she informed him solemnly, shaking her head, "I heard you earlier – this treat better be worth all the sweat and tears I went through, I deserve it I tell you, I bloody deserve it!" Shadow merely shrugged, a gesture he knew infuriated her no end,

"Maybe, maybe not, but anyway", he suddenly looked her dead in the eye, taking her slightly aback, "who said this was just about you?" _Huh?_; her confusion must have been writ large all over her face and seeing it, the former ultimate life-form moved in quickly,

"What you will do Julie, is give me a list by Friday night of all your friends who can attend a little event I'll put together on Saturday night – think of it like a girl's night in. As long as I get some warning, I should be able to make it live long in the memory; sound reasonable?"

Just for once, despite a quick and thorough examination of his plan from every angle she could conceive, Julie found herself bereft of a reason to suspect foul play. His idea was simple, workable and most importantly easy for her to put into place; the only area it scrimped on was…;_ aha, but of course_;

"Sounds fair enough", she commented carefully before moving more into the open, gesturing forwards with her hands as though circling them in the air alone would be enough to wheedle the truth out of him, "now a little more of the detail?" To her chagrin however, he merely tapped the side of his nose secretively almost as though he knew how much it wound her up,

"Ah, ah, that would be telling – you'll just have to trust me it'll be something worth it. Anyway, look on the bright side", he elaborated with a shrug as Julie tried to quickly work out what angle he was coming from this time; _what bright side has he picked up this time?_; "if it's not any good, you'll have a load of mates to back you up on it. Anyway, assuming you can remember your bit of the plan", his expression became slightly more troubled as he nodded towards the door, "what exactly did that poor lad you work with do to bring your wrath down on his head, or am I just better off not knowing?"

"You probably are but I'm going to tell you anyway", the echidna joked before a thought occurred to her, "you heard us?" He looked over incredulous,

"Julie half the block probably heard you; screams of pain that loud have a habit of echoing around buildings like this. What did you do to him?"

"Gave him a first class boot in the behind, something his parents could've done with giving him a fair few years ago", the ex-Legionnaire muttered, Kadu's words once more ringing in her ears and making her feel uncomfortably warm under the collar, "apart from you that kid's got the best habit of getting under my skin going". Shadow grinned,

"Looks like he could do with a couple more tips from me then". Julie's answering glower would have knocked barnacles off a dinghy bottom,

"You do and it'll be his death on your hands; work have already granted me immunity to investigation if you wind up dead in a ditch somewhere, I'm sure it wouldn't take much for them to extend the warrant to Kadu as well". The black hedgehog chuckled, stirred into life by the sound of the kettle behind him finally coming to the boil a few seconds later; with the lack of thought that only comes from performing an action so often it becomes as routine as breathing, he quickly filled a pair of mugs and brought one over to the table, Julie accepting it gratefully,

"Now this makes a pleasant change", he glanced back from fetching his own drink at the echidnas' voice, "normally I'm the one running around to feed and water your ungrateful carcass; nice to have the shoe on the other foot for once". He snorted, sipping his coffee before answering,

"Don't get used to it, one night only I'm afraid. And anyway, drifting back onto the topic we'd drifted off of", Julie looked confused until a flick of his head towards the door reminded her what he was on about, "I'd be careful what you wish for Jules; decide in haste, repent at leisure and all that".

"And if I had a clue what you were on about, I'd probably decide to carry on this conversation and then end up repenting the decision later", she sighed before nodding, "go on then, amaze me".

Shadow didn't answer immediately, choosing instead to take another mouthful of hot coffee and approach the table where she sat – not entirely sure where he was going with this and mindful that he'd mentioned he'd overheard at least some of her and Kadu's tête-à-tête at the front door, Julie felt the heat under her collar rise a little higher as the former ultimate life-form approached; as his hand descended onto her closest shoulder she wasn't sure whether she flinched out of horror or hope. Seemingly unaware of the fact he'd split her mind cleanly down the middle once more, Shadow spoke on to give his succinct explanation,

"Because my dear echidna, despite the fact we both have a horrible tendency to, as you put it, rub you up the wrong way, you have to admit that the few times we manage to rub you up the right way"; _gotcha_; he set the tips of his fingers to work against her shoulder muscles and was rewarded almost immediately as a hiss whistled from between the echidna's lips; _these always were your weak point to me Jules, you use them so much they're always tense_; "more than make up for it". Despite herself, Julie couldn't help but twist slightly more into the hedgehog's hand even as she answered,

"Sometimes but watch it; nice as this is it won't pull your tail out the fire every time".

"Hasn't failed me yet". She leaned back in her seat, seeing his face from below as she answered with a snicker,

"You've not seen me angry yet; annoyed yes, irritated possibly, but angry, properly angry no". The hedgehog chuckled for a minute before letting go of her shoulder; as she was rolling the joint around to make sure he'd done a good job, she felt rather than heard him move off,

"Well then, I'll do what I can to make sure I never do; let's just hope Kadu does the same". _Yeah right_; even as she watched him go, the thought sprang up in the ex-Legionnaires' mind and made her laugh quietly as she finished the drink Shadow had made for her; _some hope that is_.

XXX

The mood, such as it was, in the Chaotix household would perhaps best be described by its occupants as 'surreal'.

The most startling thing about the team as it stood now was how normal everything appeared to be; on the surface Vector was still the main decision-making crocodile he'd always been, Charmy seemed to be still on his permanent sugar-high and in love with the world in general, Espio was usually nowhere to be found and had a creepy habit of turning up where you least expected him and Mighty peppered up her seemingly normal, everyday life with feats of colossal strength alternating with the occasional love-note to her boyfriend down in the marshes of the Mystic Ruins. However, though a casual observer would doubtless have been suckered in by this masquerade of everyday living, someone who knew the team and the Mobians in it and had a chance to stick close to them for a period of time would have been at best unsettled and at worst outright scared by the malaise that seemed to have gripped them all.

Upon close scrutiny the mask they present to the world was riddled with cracks and fractures; more than once Charmy remained silent or let a joke fizzle to nothingness on his lips, or Mighty reached out to lean on a wall for support, shaking her head as though the action alone could shake off the dark rings that threatened to drag down her eyes. Despite their sufferings however, it was Vector by far who suffered the worst of it – more than once he'd been forced to brush up quickly in the morning to make sure the others didn't see dried blood staining his teeth; grinding, as crocodiles called it when they gritted their fearsome jaws together so tightly their gums bled, was a classic symptom of stress in his species. In fact more than once he'd nearly raised his hand to Charmy when the bee had buzzed out of nowhere or knocked into him, though thankfully the smaller Mobian had never noticed the quick, reflexive movement of his hand, or the way he had to force his fists to unclench as his team mate departed. Some days his skull felt like a pressure cooker, the world receding and coming back to him like waves on a beach and he kept forgetting tiny details of things, details he knew would have been a matter of life and death had they been in action. In fact the only one out of the whole team who didn't appear to feel the dread, oppressive hand of fear that had clenched tight around the team was the one who was, indirectly at least, responsible for it all in the first place.

This wasn't to say that Esprana escaped these symptoms, the growing pains her new evolution had caused in her team, entirely; rather it was that she experienced them in a slightly different manner to the others. Having to act half as herself and half still as Espio took a lot of doing, especially as she was trying to consciously mould the outward behaviours of the latter in a manner that everyone else could find believable; because of this behind the scenes doctoring, 'Espio' seemed a little out of sorts just like the others. As far as the chameleon was concerned however, the worst of it was the fact that once again she was relying on the others again to make sure she wasn't making a hash of it; though she had sworn to herself that she'd never again slap away the hand of friendship if it was offered to her, there was no denying the little kick of guilt that hit her in the stomach every time she sought confirmation that her performance had been up to scratch, a rendition of a character slowly reforming at the same time as staying true enough to the original to be believable. The guilt came not from actually asking for help as it once had and she was grateful for that fact, a mark of how far she'd come overall, but from the knowledge, no in fact it was the certainty that just by asking, she was reminding her companions of the grim reality of their situation and awakening old memories of what had occurred towards the end of the year. Each question and the answer it provided was another weight, another slab dropped atop consciences Esprana knew had to be overburdened already by what they had endured even as they hid their pain from her as much as they could, protecting her at the expense of their own well-being.

Seeing them all in such pain and knowing she was the cause of it was virtually unbearable, the only thing worse than enduring this situation and watching the Chaotix as a whole suffer was knowing and even thinking about attempting the one thing the chameleon knew would bring an end to the torrid state of affairs. _I'm not ready for that yet_; ice trickled the length of her spine as the very notion of coming completely clean just yet entered her head; _no, it's not time, but it will be soon_; surging ahead, striving for the goal as she had been all her life, that was something the chameleon knew and was ready for – even as Law once more took her by the wrist and hip and she straightened the right parts of her body automatically to cushion the fall, part of her mind was a long way away and looking to the future, to when it would her turn to stand up for her friends rather than the other way around; _time for me_; she kicked back to her feet, dodging the tawny echidnas' next lunge and shifting her feet to counterattack; _to show the world what Esprana Chameleons' made of!_

XXX

Stepping inside as was becoming routine on days like today, Esprana was greeted by the sight of Charmy sat on the stairs with a paper draped over his knees; _he didn't even notice me come in_. Guilt and depression tore twin strips straight off of her for that, the awful knowledge that she was more or less the reason he wasn't up and about, zipping away like he should have been. It was all getting too much for them all; despite truly epic resistance, all that they'd been thought was just breaking them all down piece by piece – if she wasn't careful, the chameleon knew, something was going to give completely and once more she promised herself it was going to be her before any of the others – if it would save them, she'd reveal the secret life she'd led for the better part of thirteen years herself.

"Hey Charm", he looked up at his name and almost jumped,

"Esp, oh sorry I, umm", he looked around, hoping to magic an excuse out of mid-air, "I was…"

"You were reading a paper on the stairwell, nothing wrong with that Charm, you've been doing it almost as long as I've known you", she reassured him, stepping forwards and hanging her training bag on a nearby hook at the same time as seeking the zip to it, "how's things here while I've been gone?"

"Good, same as always", the bee lied, desperate not to drag down the chameleon from what had obviously been a good night for her with the fact that Vector as now nursing several singed fingers from carelessly slopping hot soup over them, his mind pre-occupied with other things, "anyway what about you – still with the mistress or has she let you out to play with the big boys now?" She glanced over, accepting his unspoken challenge,

"I've been in with the main class for almost a fortnight now I'll have you know, and bloody good I am with it too so no sarky comments. Seriously though", she looked at him square and he sat up straighter, knowing what was coming next wasn't a joke, "it really is different; not so much the techniques and other bits but just, just training with other Mobians, it's a right eye-opener".

"That's what Vector was hoping I reckon", the bee agreed, nodding his head as he did so, "getting out there, doing something you enjoy with other people who obviously like it too; think about it, makes sense doesn't it?"

"I know", the chameleon agreed before finally finding what she was after; folding her used sports towel over her arm, she looked over the bees' head and asked, "anyone in the bathroom, and anything else I should know?"

"Uh, not really; dinner's in the oven when you're done, oh, and that's the other thing", he slapped his forehead as a crucial fact came back to the forefront of his mind, "we're missing Mighty tomorrow night, Friday; apparently Julie's invited her over for some kind of girl's night in, I was half-tempted to ask if you could go but then I thought, no, that might look a bit odd". _Just a smidgen_; Esprana could just picture the look on the former Legionnaires' face as that request filtered through before a sudden thought occurred to her,

"Hang on, who's filling in for her shift? She's supposed to be on Friday Night after me – I could do it".

"Oh no", Charmy shook his head, "I've got it covered…"

"Not anymore you've not", Esprana cut him off firmly but not unkindly, her expression softening as he looked up like a puppy that had been denied a chocolate drop, "you, and Vector, and Mighty as well; you all deserve a night off – this one's on me".

"But…"

"No buts", she assured him before smirking, whipping her hand down at lightning speed and tangling up his antennae, "make the most of it, it only happens once in a blue moon". Fighting to fend off her hand, the bee glared up mutinously,

"That I do believe; get out and leave me in peace before I leave you in pieces". Flicking her tongue out, Esprana squeezed past him on the stairs, leaving him on his own once more. Typically however, just as he regathered the scattered fragments of the paper that had ended up strewn all over the stairs and hallway, he turned to reclaim his seat and was almost run over by an absent-minded Mighty; the armadillo had her phone to her ear and didn't see her insectile team mate until she nearly ran him over,

"Watch it will you?" Uncharacteristically short of temper, the bee snapped out and immediately regretted it, though thankfully Mighty didn't seem to notice, too busy snapping her electronic appliance shut and securing it back in its holster,

"Sorry Charm, just making sure Rouge was okay with the plan tomorrow". _Plan?_; curiosity piqued, the bee raised both an eyebrow and his voice,

"Which plan?"

"Hmm? Oh", as distracted as her friend was, the armadillo was slow to pick up the thread of conversation again, "sorry, miles away. Yeah, she's been invited to this do Julie's holding like I am and she needed a lift there and back – we just sorted out times and places".

"Well I suppose if anyone needs a night out it's batgirl", Charmy mentioned a second later, the smile on his face nostalgic as he faced Mighty again, "Sonic's due here in the next week or so, and Amy as well – I reckon we owe her a present or something for the info she passed our way". To his consternation however, the armadillo shook her head,

"Nah, can't do that; it might make her suspicious – she starts asking questions and the whole thing could snowball from there". The bee sighed, shaking his head,

"I wasn't being serious for God's sake; Christ can't you get a joke?"

He regretted those words the second they left him but he couldn't take them back; all he could do instead was watch the horrible effects they had on his team mate. Mighty's face suddenly turned as dark as her shell, a scowl etched onto her lips and her fists clenched; Charmy was desperate to make amends any way he could but nothing was there, he was bereft of inspiration and could only listen to the reaction his rash words had provoked,

"No Charmy I can't, not right now anyway with everything that's going on. Anyway", the armadillo yawned, though the expression didn't travel as far as her eyes, still as bleak and hard as the bee could ever remember them being, "I'm going to bed; you want anything before I go?"

"Ah, no; I've got it all covered here", the bee told her quickly, not wanting to drive the wedge between them any deeper; he was more grateful than he let on when she said nothing more, simply gripped hold of the banister and heaved herself up it, disappearing at the top of the stairs without so much as a goodnight to mark her passing.

_Yeah_; looking back over his abysmal performance with a misery roiling in his guts, Charmy hunched back over his paper and tried to pick up where he'd left off – this time, as it had been for several nights over the past week or so now though, as his progress continued it left the page behind it spattered with drops of moisture a they ran down his face and fell from the tip of his chin; _leave it to me- I've got it all bloody covered down here_.

XXX

_It's no good_; after rolling over for the umpteenth time Julie finally gave up and conceded defeat – rearing up to rest her chin on one of the settees' arm rests, she gave up on the notion of going to sleep at all; _I've got to figure it out before I drop off._

Normally the echidna was one of the blessed few who simply had to close her eyes and she was away; this time however her ability to sleep had deserted her and the worst thing about it was she had an idea as to why. Something was nagging and niggling at the back of her mind, something to do with tomorrow and, more specifically, the guest list she'd drawn up for it so far – okay it was a little sparse as she knew only Mighty and Rouge could actually attend, Amy not being due to the island for another few weeks, but was there someone else as well she'd overlooked? _Part of me certainly seems to think so_; rolling over again the former Dark Legionnaire gave a bad-tempered huff; _and that part's not going to let me nod off until I've found out who. Kadu?_; even as the name crossed her mind she discounted it – not because she wanted to spite him further after the debacle of earlier but because this was supposed to be an all-girls-together kind of thing, so he'd have been a fish out of water with them all, especially as he didn't know the other two at all. But she thought was getting closer with that guess, something was telling her the last guest aught to come from work, and for some obscure reason it also seemed to suggest that Shadow had a very faint hand to play in this selection, though for the life of her she couldn't think what; _after all, apart from Kadu, who's he ever met from work – it's not like I've been able to invite him to the office party is it? We don't celebrate Christmas and it's not the equinox for another couple of months_; that was true but at the same time it was something to look forwards to anyway; unlike the Dark Legion who had a quasi-religion of their own, mainstream echidna society revered the festive days of the seasons more than anything else; from what little she knew of the world below, Julie had figured that the overriding religion of her species would probably have been recorded as pagan.

_Still, nice as that is, it's not getting us anywhere_; trying to move on to the matter at hand, she closed her eyes and tried hard to think, difficult as such an action was this late in the evening; what was the connection between her housemate and her work? Apart from Kadu the only member of the EST Julie knew for certain Shadow had ever met was Remington and the hair on the back of Julie's neck stood on end at the mere thought of trying to invite him to a bash like this; _so a toss-up between him and Kadu it seems then – well no prizes for guessing who's winning that one. After all from what I've heard Remington's already proposed to his girlfriend now and they're drawing up plans for the wedding – I just hope he doesn't forget about the rest of us slaving over hot keyboards for him and saves us a seat at the reception…_

What gave it away at that point Julie was never entirely sure but gave it surely did; a convulsive explosion of laughter almost burst out of her, stifled only at the last minute by her stuffing part of the sleeping back into her mouth, eyes crackling with sudden delight at the sheer irony of the situation. _Oh it makes so much sense now_; all the pieces slotted neatly home into place and drew a picture that Julie could only comment as being absolutely divine; _after all, Shadow's had an invite to her place_; not one he'd taken gratefully if she remembered rightly, but one he'd been forced to attend nevertheless – remembering the circumstances in which he'd attended and the state he'd been in when he'd finally managed to escape and drag himself home, Julie buried her head under the pillow, trying desperately to check sudden twin rushes of hilarity and self-congratulation; _so it's only right I offer her one to his!_

The very next morning Julie was as good as her word; hasty plans were cobbled together and thrown into place, essential phone calls were made early in the morning and finally, at midday on Friday Julie was able to sneak away from the normal lunchtime scrum and inform Shadow that the count he needed had just increased from three to four, including herself. Though a little intrigued by this, and privately a little concerned that the news had been so important to Julie that she'd actually rung him during office hours than waiting until they saw each other after work, the black hedgehog duly obliged and quickly took a two-minute detour home at the end of the day, increasing his order with a promise to pick it up by midday Saturday at the latest. That part of the night went smoothly; however his idea to obtain the identity of this mystery guest fell flat on its face as Julie was at her stubborn, most obstinate best about remaining tight-lipped on this subject and he didn't have enough time before his massage class to ferret the truth out of her. By the time he got back she'd already gone to bed; a sure sign in his mind that she was up to no good; _better get your guard up this time lad unless you want to get caught napping with a nasty surprise – who could she have booked into coming this time?_

Unfortunately his attempts to prise the knowledge from her iron grip over most of Saturday had as little success as his earlier goes and therefore, when he was greeted by two female voices rather than one following getting home from the last of his errands for the day, the one that contained the dynamite he needed to blow the worlds of Julie and her friends apart, it came as something of an unprecedented shock. Confused, the hedgehog edged towards the kitchen and took a peek around it; for a second he couldn't quite place the other echidna who was sat across from his flatmate with a cup in her hand, but that was because it only a second for the memories of the last time they'd both crossed paths to come crashing down over his head and force him to slowly close his eyes and shiver.

XXX

_Okay, so much for that faint hope_; seeing her workmates' house-buddy shudder as though beholding a particularly frightening ghost, Nesi felt her cheeks start to glow even as she couldn't help but smile impishly, an expression more than mirrored by Julie herself; _didn't think he'd have forgotten a night like that but you can only try_. Luckily, after the initial shock, Shadow seemed to rally quite well; composing himself, he put the bag down on the counterpane nearest him and nodded towards her before lancing a look over her shoulder,

"No wonder you were acting so sly"; _Julie you rat!_; she'd promised he already knew she was coming but must have kept it secret to get a reaction out of him; _you are so going to regret that later_; unfortunately Nesi had no time to dwell on Julie's subtle knifing of her flatmate before Shadow inadvertently rode to the former Legionnaires' rescue, "a pleasure to see you again uh…you'll have to excuse me", he glanced away, abashed, "I've quite forgotten your name". She took his pro-offered paw warmly, shaking with a firm grip before letting go,

"Nesi; look", she decided the quicker this hatchet were buried the better, "if it's any consolation to you I really can't remember anything that happened that night, just wish I could say the same about the morning after", her face screwed up in pain as she recalled being laid up for most of the morning, in bed with pounding head, "hangover like you wouldn't believe".

"I'd believe it; had a couple of those in my time myself; anyway, you've just made me jealous", Shadow informed her mock-sourly, folding his arms over his chest and looking disproving, "I can't help but remember what you and that coven subjected me to – you might have scarred me for life".

"Oh please don't say that; Xodi teased me for ages after he heard about the plan we all cooked up"; _I've got to ask_; despite her most solemn promises that she wouldn't mention anything about that night for fear of embarrassing the black hedgehog, her need to have the most embarrassing aspect of that night either confirmed or denied forever by the one reliable witness available screamed suddenly and she was unable to resist its cravings, "I didn't really table-dance did I?"

To her infinite relief Shadow chuckled at her question rather than dismissed it outright, however something in his expression as he made to answer made her slightly more nervous about the answer she was going to get than she felt comfortable with,

"Pity the table if you did"; _huh? Oh that wasn't so…you cheeky…!_; before she could launch a comeback though he'd carried on, "no, I don't think so – most of it's just a blur, though it was definitely your, ah, undergarment I was gifted with at the end of the night; honours to a champion and all that, I think that was what you said and meant anyway, a bit hard to tell with all the slurring". Nesi snorted, neither of the duelling duo noticing Julie on the sidelines with her face buried in her arms, shoulders heaving and almost rupturing her lungs trying not to laugh,

"Last night of freedom, what can I say? Hey blame her", she jerked a thumb across from her, Shadow followed it for a split-second before looking back at her; _figures – she seems to be the root of most of the troubles in my life right now_; "she corrupted me and Kadu into it – in my normal mind I'd have said no like a shot".

"Yeah, she's good at that", Shadow admitted before smiling, shaking his head at it all, "well, as my boss once said to me, it wasn't the most orthodox meet-and-greet I've been to but I can't say it wasn't a good one. I can only hope", he nodded towards the bag he'd brought with him, "mine comes up to that sort of standard, in a completely reputable way of course".

"What?" Nesi darted her attention between the hedgehog and Julie, "You two…you're planning a stag night already? When'd you get it together, and Jules, where's my invite?"

_Gotcha_; killing two birds with one stone, Nesi avenged herself on both Julie for keeping her mouth shut and Shadow for his insinuations about her weight – studiously keeping her expression as neutral as she could make it, she simply sat back an enjoyed the show as the other two Mobians looked across at each other and simultaneously recoiled,

"Urgh, no chance!"

"Ditto; I'm not that desperate and he's not that lucky", Julie rounded on the former ultimate life-form's slightly quicker comment, "I think what he meant was tonight making that kind of impression – at least that's what I hope you meant".

"Something like that", Shadow confirmed, still looking Julie up and down and with half an eye on Nesi in the background, sitting pretty and smug in the light of the havoc she'd caused, "sorry to burst your bubble Julie but there aren't beer goggles in the world thick enough to get me popping that question. Anyway nice as it is to insult one-another all night", just before Julie could catch up he swiftly diverted to another topic, "the other two should be here any minute; I told them half-four so, even with Mighty driving, they shouldn't be too much longer". Nesi checked her watch, nodding slightly as she saw the time ticking by; _he timed his entrance well in that case – must have good transport to get here this quick, the buses are never that reliable_;

"I shouldn't think so, it's nearly that now. So", she suddenly sat forwards, interested and hungry for knowledge, "spill the beans then Shadow – what's the big plan?" To her disappointment however, he merely wagged a finger in a gesture for patience,

"Ah, ah, that'd be telling; you'll just have to wait a couple of minutes and I'll get you all clued in at the same time. Which", he straightened suddenly as there was a knock from the front door, "should be right about now; 'scuse me while I…"

"You do nothing", Julie informed him, standing up with a challenging fire in her eyes, "my guests my greeting; you just sit there and try to look…", her face convulsed slightly and Shadow braced himself, guessing correctly that whatever was coming was probably going to be less than complimentary for him, "I would say pretty but as it's you; just less ugly than you normally do". With that she was gone, away to the front door and the last two of the invitees as her flatmate scowled at her departing back before remembering his manners and smiling back at his other guest.

"You, er", making a brave stab at conversation, the other echidna took the lead, "is she, that is, you two always like that?"

"More or less", Shadow agreed with a rueful smile, "well she is anyway; I'm the adult one most of the time so I have to try and ignore her much as I can – she gives up if you don't give her any attention". At that it was Nesi's turn to smile,

"No attention, and you're the adult one? You're as bad as each other".

"Shh", Shadow leant forwards with a furtive expression, "that'll be our little secret – most of the others believe me when I tell them that; why I've got no idea".

"Nope", with a shake of her head Nesi drained the last of her drink, finishing it with an appreciative smack of her lips, "me neither", she tipped him a sudden wink that caught him off-guard and nearly made him blush, "must just be 'cause you're the cute one; her words not mine", she added in explanation as this time Shadow did go red; _no doubt about it this time – guess just for once Kadu really was telling the truth_.

XXX

Pulling the door open, Julie met her friends with open hands and a big grin,

"Evening girls – sorry I don't have a clue about what he's cooked up but I can count on your support if it's not to our highly refined tastes?" Rouge looked around at this, seemingly weighing something up in her mind before giving her answer,

"Hmm, maybe; he's probably still mad at me after all". The echidna fell back a pace before scowling, standing tall and thrusting an accusing finger at her friend,

"Turncoat", Julie denounced the ex-government agent before looking over the bat's shoulder at the one ally she knew she could rely on, "what about you Might – you wouldn't let me down now would you?"

The armadillo didn't respond at once; in fact Julie was on the verge of repeating herself when she found her question answered,

"Of course not; whatever it is you've got planning you can count me in". Caught up in her elation at finally securing a majority vote, Julie paid attention to Mighty's words rather than her tone and therefore missed the flatness in the armadillo's voice. Instead, she turned on her heel and led them into the kitchen, speaking over her shoulder as she did so,

"Right, the gang's all here now, so", flipping her attention forwards again, her eyes immediately caught Shadow out and pinned him in place in his seat, "it's up to you now Shads; get talking or we'll have to start making you talk!"

Luckily he didn't spark up at her light-hearted threat; instead taking it in his stride and, after flicking his eyes sideways for a split-second to see Nesi looking away slightly shamefaced, stood up to address them all, motioning for Rouge and Mighty to sit own as he did so,

"So, this is the whole gang? Well, in that case", he shifted backwards and caught by the handle the bag he'd brought in with him, something Julie suddenly cursed herself for not peeking into as she walked past, "I'll come clean straight away – this is definitely not what you'd expect from a traditional night in; I'll explain why presently. Everything you'll need is both in this bag and I'll prepare for you; unfortunately due to a prior commitment I have to be somewhere at half-five, so that being the case I suggest", he delved into the bag with his free hand and started rummaging around, withdrawing a second later with a leaflet which he offered to Mighty, who was sat closest to him. As the others crowded around there was a rustling from behind them; when they looked back at the black hedgehog, he stood with a notebook in his hand and an expectant expression on his face,

"May I take your orders now ladies? Have whatever you like; tonight", he flicked the pencil from out the top of the notepad and swished the top sheaf of paper backwards in a dramatic flourish, "it's all on me".

A/N: But for how long is it all on him – surely there's got to be a sting in the tail somewhere? Maybe, maybe not but more importantly, can the Chaotix survive into this New Year with so much pressure being heaped on them? We can only watch, and wait, and hope…


	14. Chapter 14 Snares and Illusions

Chapter 14 – Snares and Illusions

A/N: Another chapter out quicker than I expected; sorry it seems slow compared to earlier but I'm right up to the eyeballs in work at the minute so writing time has had to be pared back to accommodate it. Still, seeing the hits and reviews makes up for any suffering work heaps onto the plate:

As the last fork clattered onto the plate Rouge sat back replete, hands folded back over her stomach with a satisfied expression as she surveyed the collection of the empty food cartons and cleaned plates,

"Now that was not bad, definitely not bad", she commented breezily before catching Shadow's eye and elaborating further, "and coming from someone who eats at Wyns a lot more than's good for her waistline, that's one hell of a compliment". _Think that worked_; for a second she could only cross her fingers the black hedgehog would accept her hastily-constructed compliment but as always his face was so hard to read – it was only when a begrudging smile broke over his inscrutable expression that she breathed a sigh of relief,

"I'll pass your fine recommendations on to the people at the Millennium Palace", he assured her as he quickly picked up her plate before reaching over to take Mighty's, "anyway, stay where you are girls and I'll go get the second course. All I ask you to do", he explained smoothly as four pairs of eyes swapped intrigued glances, "is move yourselves up onto the furniture – I swear all will be revealed shortly. Call me if you need anything, I'll be in the kitchen".

As he departed the whispers automatically began in his wake; following his footsteps with her eyes, Rouge waited until her former team mate was well out of earshot before voicing her suggestions,

"Well I'll say this for him; if he's going for the man of mystery approach tonight he's got me well and truly hooked".

"And me, no surprise there though", Julie chipped in, shrugging as the others glanced her way, "what – pretty much everything he does comes as a complete surprise to me", she looked towards Mighty suddenly, a wide grin splitting her lips, "armadillo logic to the nth degree that one".

"Hmm", it seemed to take a long minute for Mighty to realise she was being spoken to, much less reply, "ok, I suppose so"; _now please just leave me alone – oh no_; it took all that was left of her flagging willpower not to grimace and grit her teeth as she heard the partially-mechanised echidna speak again, concern evident in her voice and her face, as Mighty saw when she finally managed to summon up enough of a will to live to look into it,

"Are you okay Might?"

"Yeah", she replied in what she hoped was a nonchalant manner; no such luck of course, not with Rouge in the vicinity and her having spent about quarter of an hour with the bat in the van,

"Not meaning to be rude Mighty but you don't look a hundred percent; in all honesty you looked absolutely knackered. Have you been…?"

"…Sleeping well? No", she shook her head as much as her shell would allow her to, Nesi craning her neck to try and get a surreptitious peek at this motion; up until she'd now never seen an armadillo before in the flesh, or a bat for that matter, and was finding the experience fascinating, trying to follow the movements of both out the corner of her eye to see how both other Mobians were able to move so quickly with either such a solid lump of bone or a large pair of wings fused irreversibly to their back, "dunno what's going on but it's not good for me; need to get my head down properly for a change".

"Any idea what's caused it?" Mighty shrugged,

"None whatsoever", she shrugged, fielding Julies' question with an almost dismissive manner, "whatever it is must be serious though; normally I can get some shut-eye through Vectors' snoring so it's gotta be pretty bad". Everyone's head nodded in agreement, even Nesi, who didn't have a clue who Vector was or how loud he snored; however, as a voice floated through from the kitchen everyone turned to pay attention,

"Mighty, you might well be in luck in that case; nearly finished now ladies so, if you'd do me one last little favour", there was the distinctive rumble of a full kettle coming to the boil before he was able to finish, "please take off your shoes, socks and roll your trousers up to your knees".

_What?!_

XXX

Needless to say this bizarre request generated furious discussion about the black hedgehogs' ideas for the evenings, his plans for the lot of them for the night and the state of his sanity; in fact Julie was actually standing up to try and straighten this convoluted mess out when the target of her sudden burst of attention appeared in the doorway, a wry smile on his lips and his arms outstretched,

"Right before any of you lot think I've gone completely mad, assuming it's not too late already…"

"Too late", Nesi informed him, shaking her head, "way, way too late". Shadow chortled a touch, holding up a hand as if to accept the inevitable,

"Thought it might be but anyway, I persevere; the fact is tonight for you four is going to be a complete and utter relax in the most literal sense of the word".

At his words all four present swapped glances, each trying to work out both what Shadow had meant by his previous statement and, more importantly, how it would affect each of them; in the end however, it was Julie herself who sat back and sighed with relief,

"Sounds like a good idea to me, especially after the week we've both had a work, hey Ness". The other echidna rolled her eyes,

"Don't remind me – what was it, two elevator breakdowns in the space of three days? Spirits forbid your old mates from the Legion decide to show up and start something – about the only thing left in the EST that's not falling to bits is the staff, more or less".

"And just what do you mean by that, 'more or less'?" Julie shot back immediately, protectively rubbing her left forearm as though the metal had somehow developed an ache, "Just needed a dab of oil and I was right back at peak performance". Over her shoulder, an ebon eyebrow raised unseen; _perfect_;

"Peak, peak of a mole-hill that is – but right", Shadow quickly raised his voice, addressing the whole room just fast enough to prevent Julie from snapping back at him, "first thing is this", he slid his left hand from where it had been ferreting around in his back quills, loosening out the little rectangular box he'd cunningly concealed in there, "it's relaxation therapy, apparently; according to the girl in the shop, complete and utter visual and audible meltdown".

"Same shop?" Caught out slightly by the unexpected question, the hedgehog stumbled before managing to reply,

"What do you mean – oh, same place I usually go for stuff like this? Yeah", seeing this and having been introduced to the little out-the-way hollow that supplied Shadow with the equipment he sometimes needed to indulge his massaging hobby, Julie nodded and sat back; _fair enough – never had a bad deal from there yet. Hope Daji's knees are better now though, his arthritis was playing up last I heard_; "far as I can see why change a winning formula. But this is just the prelude", the hedgehog stooped to place the box down before standing up with a theatrical flourish, "I promised you all something a little out the ordinary and so something out the ordinary you will receive; they should be just about cool enough by now so Rouge, I'll sort you out first. Shoes and socks off batgirl and I'll be with you in a second".

_Okayyy_…; still not a hundred percent sure what was going on with this and, if she was completely honest, a little bit worried about the hedgehog's intentions, the guardian nevertheless slowly bent down and unclipped the buckles of her shoes, thinking hard as her boots slipped free one after another; _I know he's still probably a bit mad at me for that whole Brotherhood thing, and he knows I can't stand my feet being touched, but there's another guest here_; her eyes darted to Nesi for a second, drawing reassurance from the echidna's presence; _surely he wouldn't act up like that if there's a stranger to him in the place?_ Thankfully, just as her nimble fingertips took hold of the toe of one of her thin beige socks, the conscientious part of her mind came back to the front of her thinking and she looked up at the others, a slightly abashed smile perked up on her lips,

"Ah, sorry about this, they're not my best feature but, well, it can't be helped". Instead of explain away the questions she acted instead, pulling her sock off and exposing her bare foot, as naked and pink-skinned as her hands were, the toenails once again stark, harsh black chips of obsidian driven into the tops of her toes. Quickly and almost mechanically she repeated the action, her right foot as hairless and, she admitted to herself, as unattractive as her left.

"Not great I know", she sighed wistfully, a flaw in her nature species that she simply could do nothing but accept; despite raging against the fact in her younger, wilder years, age had educated her to the point where she now accepted what was wrong and consoled herself with the fact that what was right far outweighed it, and certainly Knuckles had never complained about her unusual hands and feet; _when he wasn't on the end of one of them at least_. The sudden thought made her smile until, inevitably, the question arrived, from Julie actually, a fact that surprised the bat a little more than it would have done had Nesi opened her mouth,

"Is that a bat thing – I mean", the former Legionnaire hastily rephrased the question as Rouge looked over inquiringly, "is everyone, every bat, or fruit bat, let's get that right like you; do none of them have fur on their hands and feet?"

"None that I know of", Rouge admitted, shrugging, "given the wonders of today's' technology I'm sure there's some kind of procedure or other that'd make the hair grow but I haven't heard of it, and if there is I probably wouldn't be all that interested. I mean, how many spikes volunteer to have their spurs removed – not many I'd bet?"

"Believe it or not, there were plans to actually try and make that happen", Nesi chipped in suddenly, settling back after assuaging hr curiosity, "it was a fair few years before you joined up Julie, but even Remington was getting quite into the debate at one point. This back was where there was a fair amount more trouble than there is now; fights, and I mean proper big brawls, almost every weekend and you know what happens when spikes get involved?"

"Dead right I do, I married one", Rouge admitted with a smirk; Nesi's eyes widened and she looked over at Julie – only when her workmate nodded did the bats words truly start to sink in; _wow, I know they say most people on the world below are friendly but I didn't think they were getting quite that friendly yet – though mind you_; luckily Julie, having nodded at her friends' first glance, didn't notice her second; _look at her and that black hedgehog. Deny it all you like Jules – I know you've got a flame in there for him somewhere_; burying this line of thinking for the moment, she turned her attention back to Rouge,

"Really – Xodi's never had them; in fact I don't think anyone in his family ever has. Anyway, hang on a minute", taking in another breath through her nose, she turned towards the lounge door, realising she was sitting nearest to it, "is it just me or can anyone else smell…I don't know, spices?" The other three, piqued by her sudden discovery, started to sniff the air to see if they could track down the invading odour but before they could do much more than register its presence the curtain was pulled back and the mystery dispelled,

"Camomile actually Nesi, good guess though", Shadow's voice preceded him for a second before the hedgehog himself appeared in the doorway; after an instant of slotting the pieces together as her memory was jogged by the sight of the large, gently simmering bowl he was having to hold in both hands, Rouge gave a short laugh and clapped her hands, caught completely out by Shadow's wild stroke of genius and having to give credit accordingly,

"Bravo Shads; been ages since I've had one of them. I admit it, I admit it here and now – this really does classify as something completely out the ordinary".

As the black hedgehog beamed from ear to ear and slowly started forwards with his burden again Nesi, already discovering she wasn't quite tall enough to sit up and catch a peek at the mysterious liquid swirling around the large container Shadow held, simply couldn't hold her curiosity in any longer,

"But what is it?"

"It's a footbath, or actually, a foot-soak", Rouge filled her in, quickly pulling up the leggings of her jumpsuit just as Shadow stopped in front of her and slowly lowered the big bowl to the floor, "camomile though, never heard of that sort before?"

"Relaxation, as I said", was all he offered by way of explanation, though as he stood up Shadow was quick to offer a word of warning, "this should be just a little bit warm; sorry but that's why I chose you first Rouge, I know you're a bit more temperature-sensitive than the others so if you can handle it everyone else should be a complete breeze". The guardian chuckled at the same time as lift one of her long, shapely legs into position, ready to dip a first tentative toe into what she could now see was a pale, yellow-brown liquid, rather like weak tea,

"Okay then girls, here I go; this, is for you all". With that statement, and a grimace of unbearable suffering besmirching her face, the bat gingerly let her exposed toes descend; there was an audible gasp from all present as ripples spread off from the point of first contact, a hiss escaped the bat's lips, then with a short, sharp splash, the guardian let her foot flop carefully right to the bottom of the bowl, submerged to just above her ankle; as she grinned and pretended to make theatrical bows to her audience, Shadow merely shook his head before pretending to open an imaginary envelope,

"And the award for Most Dramatically Over-acting Drama Queen goes to…Mrs Rouge t. Bat – please enjoy your prize and sit quietly while I sort everyone else out. Honestly though", all fun and games aside now, the hedgehog asked the question brazenly, "it's not too hot?" His answer was likewise clear and out in the open,

"No, not a single complaint here – uhh", for a second Rouge raised her leg as though ready to move her other foot into the bowl before glancing down and noticing a potential problem, "though I think mine might be a bit full; towels might be in order here Shads, unless you want to run the risk of the carpet staining".

"No chance of that; it'd be me getting them out of there – don't look at me like that", he'd seen the disbelieving glance Julie had thrown his way contemptuously and swished it away venomously, "you know you're not great at that kind of housework, the chemicals might do funny things to your arms if you're not careful. Oh, ladies, that is my only concern", he raised his hands, making sure they were all paying attention to him before carrying on, "the one thing I do ask is that if you do make any kind of mess tonight, please would you mind clearing it up? I've done the washing and drying", he quickly made that point clear before anyone could accuse him of trying to get away with just doing half a job, "but the thing is I'm going to be busy tonight and the last thing I want to face when I get back is another load of clearing away before I go to bed".

He left the question hanging as he left to retrieve the next footbath; as he'd expected, his answer was waiting for him almost as soon as he arrived,

"Suits us Shadow; sounds fair enough": Julie had been elected spokes-Mobian for the group, though as he headed in her direction Mighty seemed to stir from her quasi-slumber enough to conjure up a flicker of interest,

"Where are you going anyway?"

"Got a date with a wallpaper stripper tonight", the hedgehog admitted as he squatted in front of her, lowering the bowl to the floor, "friends of mine are getting their hall redecorated so I'm working for my supper – they said they'd feed me if I lent a hand".

"Ah", Nesi cocked her head at this admission, more and more positive points seeming to come to light the longer she stayed around the place, "that's a real sense of team spirit and charity that". Shadow snorted softly, turning his face away at the praise to hide an awkward grin,

"It's also safer than eating her cooking; don't worry, getting to you next", he quickly soothed the savage dragon that was his housemates' temper with the balm of that admission, though there was a definite scowl on Julies' face as she bad-temperedly kicked off her shoes. A minute later, when all four of them were sorted out and wriggling their toes within their herbal soaks, Shadow disappeared for a fifth time before reappearing with a couple of small plates, setting them down in strategic locations between the relaxing foursome,

"Of course, I brought some nibbles; right, think you're about sorted now so", scooping up the video from where it lay, he crossed the room and, after fiddling with the controls of both the television and the player for a minute, the screen sprang to life – moving back to the settee, he pressed the remote into Julie-Su's palm before standing up and making his last announcement,

"Right, my work here is done; have a good night and I'll catch up with you when I get back; hopefully you'll all be asleep by then – lights out". As the room was plunged into darkness, Shadow paused only to make sure there were no further questions and then headed for his front door; a second later, he was speeding away into the Echidnopolis night.

No more than a minute after he'd set off he was stepping through another door, his hand clasped hard by Micah's as the echidna exclaimed,

"Nice one Shadow; a star you are mate". Grinning, the hedgehog shoved his friend away in time to see Honey, already decked out in her working clothes, hanging off the banister and waving as she beamed in his direction,

"Well you're the first Mobians to think that of me; anyway", looking slightly past her to the wall he began sizing up the job and thinking what he could do best to make sure this business was packed away at a reasonable hour, "let's get this over and done with; then", sizing up the tools scattered haphazardly around the foot of the stairs, he reached down and hefted up a scraper, darting it towards the wall itself as a statement of intent, "we eat!"

"Wow you're keen", Shadow shrugged his shoulders carelessly as Honey sauntered past, pausing only to slip her arm through her boyfriends' before taking a swig from a brightly-coloured beaker perched precariously on a small window ledge in the hallway, "you don't want to know what I had to promise to get him roped into this, and don't look at me like that", she demanded suddenly as Shadow smirked with a theatrical shudder; _damn, should have worded that a bit better – heaven alone knows what he's thinking now_; "keep your filthy ideas to yourself".

"Until you get a chance to put them into action that is", Micah cut in suddenly, skilfully blocking the punch Honey sent lancing his way as her face blazed crimson, "what – was it something I said, or thought?" Watching as the red echidna bobbed, ducked and weaved away from the barrage of slaps and soft kicks sent his way by his blonde counterpart and partner, Shadow chuckled for a minute before moving to try and separate the squabbling duo,

"Probably both I should think; anyway, pair of you", he gripped onto Honey's arm and tried to pull her backwards, the echidna struggling up until he jabbed her in the ribs and she collapsed into him shrieking with laughter, "calm down and let's get this done; careful Barbie", he tightening his hold and drew his hand back menacingly, Honey immediately shrinking back and trying to protect her vulnerable ribcage, "we're not at work now – no Snappy to save your tail out here". _Can't really argue with that_; despite the logical side of her mind telling her that for a fact, her battler spirit still made her turn around to look for a bit of support; _but that's not going to stop me trying_; however, in that regard she found herself disappointed. As her blazing gaze turned to him, Micah simply held up his hands and scrutinised the floor,

"Leave me out of this Henu; your mess, you get yourself out of it".

"Coward", she spat half-venomously before sighing, the fight draining out of her as she gently tugged her arm free of Shadow's grip, the hedgehog's hand sloughing away as he realised the time for joking was over, "okay, you're right; I want to eat as much as you do", stepping forwards, she grabbed a couple more tools and casually tossed one towards Micah at the same time as point Shadow up the stairs, "you start at the top Shads, I'll make a start on the middle and if you break out the stepladder you can get as much of the ceiling done as you can reach". Micah nodded, pulling the stepladder up as Shadow whipped up the steps, counting sixteen of the squat, blocky structures and realising how compact echidna stairs were compared to those on the world below; he doubted the first floor was three metres above the ground one. Curiosity satisfied, he set the point of the scraper to the wall to make the first incision on the faded, tired old wallpaper; as he did so the former ultimate life-form paused for a minute to allow himself a small, secret smile, understanding that even as he toiled away here, miles from home, he knew he'd followed the recipe exactly and could therefore rely on the secret ingredient he'd placed into a couple of the girls' treats to already be doing the vengeful works he'd planned it to do.

XXX

As the slam of the front door reached their ears and a momentary silence descended, it was a sudden laugh from Nesi that broke the tranquil truce; shaking her head, she pointed across the settee to the remote Julie still held in her hand, speaking with a chuckle in her voice as she pointed out what to her was by now blindingly obvious,

"Well Jules that just goes and settles it; from now on I don't care what you tell me, Shadow is going to be an absolute pearl in my book, and a black pearl at that – they're expensive them ones". At this sudden topic shift Rouge lent an interested ear,

"A woman who knows her jewellery; you and I need to talk. Anyway, I'm curious now", the bat pointed out the blank screen facing them all at the same time as wriggle her toes again, the water around them wonderfully warm and, she admitted to herself, seemingly making her drowsy in this dark, languid environment, "hit the button Julie and we'll see how long it takes us to nod off – God that made me sound old", the bat paused for a second with a rueful snigger, "how many people on a night in boast about how quickly they fell asleep – sounds like an Olympic sport for geriatrics". There was a yawn from somewhere off to the right before a drowsy voice burbled into the night,

"At this rate", a second yawn punctured the silence, Mighty shuffling around on her seat to look over at the others, "that sport's going to have its youngest member in a second; Julie, you better hit the button sooner rather than later – I'd like to see at least some of this movie before I drop off completely". The mechanised echidna chortled in the darkness, flipping the remote around in her hands and, after a minutes' hard squinting, managed to locate the play button; looking left and right, she smiled at the same time as thumb the fateful button,

"Okay then, let's see what you left us Blackie, apart from in the dark, as usual".

For a second the screen merely fizzled white; after that however, there came the gentle noise of rain trickling through the forest leaves, a counterpart to the tranquil thicket that lay before them all, panning in slowly on the screen as they watched on. The shots changed erratically, as did the music, but every scene, whether it was waves crashing onto a white-sanded beach or birds circling in the dusky evening air, every one conjured up a picture of peace and relaxation. Suddenly Julie found herself blinking hard, the urge to yawn almost unsupressable as she tried to focus on both the pictures in front of her, the sensation of warmth surrounding her feet and the slight scent that trickled upwards from the gently-simmering steam of the liquid Shadow had assured them all would help them drift off into a state of complete luxury. _And going on this evidence_; she let her head fall backwards, the impact on the pillow more a soft embrace than a ringing tap between the ears; _he might well be right_.

No more than five or so minutes later, to a crescendo of snores from the other three chairs Julie found herself, almost against her will, the last Mobian in the room who made that claim completely and utterly correct.

XXX

Swallowing down the last morsel of the dessert he'd chewed up and licking the residues of melted ice-cream from his lips, Shadow set down his spoon and half-stood, smiling as he hefted his bowl and then reached over for Micahs.

"Ah, cheers", a little taken aback by his guests' display of munificence, he handed his used bowl and cutlery over with a breezy manner, "nice to have a bit of service in this place for a change – it's been a bit lax recently". The ebon hedgehog raised an eyebrow, smirking across the table at the third member of the party as she fought hard to keep her temper under control in the face of such outright provocation,

"What did your last slave die of?"

"She hasn't; she's just let herself go a bit recently – better break out the old ball and chain again, gotta get something to whip her back into shape before the rot spreads too far". This was the straw that finally broke the camels' back; like a bear that had just roused itself following a winter hibernation Honey raised herself upright and glared at her tormentors,

"Listen here you, both of you", she said with a heavy emphasis that made both male Mobians pay close attention, "just because you two got off your tails and actually got on with the table service, which you only did because you were starving anyway I'll bet, don't forget who actually got your food on the table in the first place. I made that meal you know, and the dessert as well before you start looking smug", she finished just as Shadow started to smirk. At her accusation however, rather than back off or act hurt as she'd expected him to, the black hedgehog simply chortled all the harder,

"Just as well chubs; you ate most of what was on the table", Honey immediately opened her mouth to flare up at that inflammatory statement, then quickly shut it again as a very simple yet very important fact surged to the forefront of her mind; _damn, he's right about that_; and, as her boyfriend also looked over at her with a slightly more calculating glint in his eyes, Honey realised with a sinking feeling that this was only just going to get worse,

"Yeah, I didn't realise it first but you've been packing it away recently; had a few hunger pangs recently babe, though before you say anything", he held a hand up to try and forestall any potential protests, "I'll be the first to admit you've not put any weight on, or at least not any that I can see anywhere". Deciding that attack was the best form of defence, the blonde echidna snorted and flipped her hair back down her back, glaring,

"And after this tabletop debacle you can assume that'll be the status-quo for a while yet", as Micah crossed his eyes trying to work out what she meant Shadow, who after nearly two-thirds of a year living with a former Legionnaire complete with the salty, barrack room humour and innuendo, had to turn his back to stop his workmate's boyfriend from seeing both his sorrowful expression and his ever-widening smirk; _harsh Honey, funny maybe but very, very harsh_. Finally when he was certain he was in complete control of himself , he turned back around just in time to see Micah's jaw drop as he saw the hidden meaning his partners' words; before he could start pleading his innocence however, Shadow intervened,

"Sorry to step in here but here and now I reckon it'd be a good time for me to take my leave. Thanks a lot for your time and the meal you two, it was great. Let me know if you need a hand finishing the wallpapering tomorrow Honey, I'll drop back in sometime next week".

For a second neither of the two echidnas spoke; they simply looked at the hedgehog as though he'd just announced he was about to be anointed as the new guardian – after that second however, both began gabbling reasons for him to dissuade his early exit,

"No no, Shadow, the night is young yet man". _Just this once_; despite their earlier slight spat Honey found herself agreeing with her boyfriend on this point, as, she realised with a sudden flash of inspiration, she usually ended up doing in the grand scheme of things,

"He's right Shads; come on", she wheedled, standing up despite feeling quite bottom-heavy in light of the huge meal she'd just eaten, quite without thinking about it, "we've got plenty of movies and anything else you could need, crisps especially".

"Yeah, and we can't let Honey eat them all can we? I mean", remembering at the last minute the thin ice he was on and almost hearing it crack under his latest foot out of place, Micah tried to quickly correct his error before Honey could pounce on it, "would you want to be responsible for ruining a figure like that?" _Reckon I just might have got away with it_; though he was still keeping his fingers crossed Micah was still quietly confident that he'd got away with it; certainly Honey was looking a little less thunderous than she had been a few seconds earlier, but it was only when Shadow chortled with laughter and gave his girlfriend the nod that he breathed again properly,

"That would be a tragedy", he smirked with a grin before turning serious, "but no, I've got to get a move on, if only to see what a mess that coven Julie summoned together has made of my flat".

"Don't you mean your flat now? I thought you were on a dual contract?" The former ultimate life-form shook his head,

"Nah, and in all honesty I think it's for the best really – her job's okay and all that but it doesn't really pay enough to cover half the rent".

"I'm surprised yours does".

"Performance bonus", he explained simply to Micahs' question, shrugging as Honey leant over to whisper a fuller description of the way the C.A. bonus system worked, "basically because I'm one of the best runners I get slightly more than the average runner does; just an incentive to work hard really".

"Just as well, it's about the only incentive any of us have got in that place", Honey huffed, once more grumbling about her workplace with her arms folded, one of her favourite pastimes as Micah had once explained to Shadow; _in fact second only to moaning about me, I think you said Micah_; luckily he managed to keep his face completely neutral as the blonde echidnas' expression softened and she stood up, "still, it's the weekend now so all that rubbish can wait 'til next week. Well", she shrugged, a slight smile just about forcing itself onto her lips as she quickly and loosely embraced the taller Mobian, "can't stop you Shads, much as we'd like to; if you're sure you want to quit at this point..."

"'Fraid so; nasty to say it might be, but if I want a bed tonight I'm going to have to kick the girls out my house". _Oops_; just by the look on the male echidnas' face Shadow realised he'd just opened his mouth and inserted his foot,

"I don't know", with a quick shimmy Micah was suddenly stood right to the side of Honey, one arm around her shoulder and his lips pressed lightly against her cheek, "you don't always have to evict a girl to get a decent heads' down you know – in fact a lot of the time it's more fun if you leave at least one in there with you, I mean look at me; I used to get away with it up until about two and a bit minutes ago". Honey rolled her eyes sardonically while Shadow grimaced, one memory in particular stoked by his friends' comment, and not one he was particularly fond at that,

"Out of that lot, do I have to pick one?"

"Got one in mind have you?" Micah sniggered, his mirth only increasing as the hedgehog shuddered again, "Now usually I'd say yes but, hey, in this case the more the merrier, especially for you".

"Urgh, don't be disgusting", the hedgehog protested, looking to Honey for support but just for once finding her shivering in badly-disguised laughter rather than leaping to his aid, "at least your taste in humour's worse than your taste in wallpaper – anyway, I'm off". Finally shaking off her persistent sniggering, Honey put her hands on her hips in time to look the hedgehog up and down,

"Okay, and on that note it's time for us to say goodbye then; come on Shads", she offered her hand across the table, the black hedgehog smiling warmly now, all humour gone as he shook her hand and then embraced her softly, "I'll show you the way out".

"Thanks Henu; see you again Micah", the echidna waved from behind the table, following in the wake of the other two Mobians as his partner led their impromptu workmate for the evening to their front door. Stepping forwards into the cool night air, the hedgehog breathed down a deep breath and exhaled slowly, watching it mist up in the night before stretching up, strangely tired all of a sudden and fighting to suppress a sudden yawn; a second later he remembered what was probably waiting for him at home and all his lethargy evaporated. Pausing only to wave one last time to the two echidnas stood on their doorstep, Shadow ignited the soles of his footwear and pelted away into the darkness, the embrace of the night smothering him from view as easily as a mother's arms could protect her most-loved child.

No more than a few minutes later, after he'd come to a halt at visibly forced himself to calm down before entering his front door, Shadow felt the traditional leap in his chest as he realised that once again he'd equalised the balance of karma in the world as much as he was able to. Even peering into the darkened room the hedgehog could see his plan had worked an absolute treat and the mere sight alone, to say nothing of the entertainment that was certain to follow his victims' actual realisation of his trap, filled him suddenly with a manic energy. In an instant he was unable to keep still, the strange tingling that had filled his body erupting from him in a crazy, unscripted jig; completely disregarding his normal self-discipline in favour of this effervescent sensation, the former ultimate life-form capered around in the doorway, grateful for the simple fact that he was alive to see this, perhaps the greatest prank he'd ever concocted and set in motion reach perfect fruition, his mad dance only ending when there was a sudden gasp of surprise and a dark shape shuffled around on the chair closest to his, the movement accompanied by the sound of splashing water sloshing over his lounge floor,

XXX

Much to the despair of her parents and, more recently, her husband as well, Nesi had always been a light sleeper; normally the first chord of the dawn chorus was enough to get her up and, if not exactly running, then at least moving in the right direction first thing in the morning. Therefore the sound of booted feet hoofing up and down somewhere very close by immediately made her sit up straight, confused and frightened as she was assailed in the dark by a plethora for strange, foreboding circumstances. For a start she had been asleep and it was still dark as she'd woken up; however more disturbing than this was the fact that, now she was awake, she couldn't see or feel Xodi anywhere near her and they hadn't not gotten up together for a single night since they'd been married. The noise was thumping louder in her ears now but worse than even that...; she pulled her feet up sharply from the icy bath submerging them, the chill helping remind her where she was and therefore the most likely cause of the abominable row that had roused her. A dark shape was jigging madly from the corner of her eye, silhouetted by the light of the still-functioning television, the screen still flickering relaxingly between scenes of rainfall, waves rolling onto beaches and other such tranquil scenes, but as she turned her face towards it her memory thankfully rebooted itself back into gear and she managed to mumble something like a greeting,

"Shadow?" The mysterious shape at the door seemed to slow down its erratic jiving enough to deliver a nod; _that's that sorted at least – at least I know who's woken me up now_. With that little piece of the puzzle ironed into place, the echidna moved on to the next pressing matter, "How long have you been back, and are you dancing?"

He question seemed to thrown the hedgehog off his stride somewhat but he swiftly recovered, apparently resuming his impromptu tap-dancing session where he'd left off, his answer delivered in a tone as light as his feet seemed to be,

"No Nesi, this isn't dancing; this is me finally enjoying my long-awaited moment of triumph over the two who've made my life a complete and utter hell over the past couple of weeks, so I intend to make the most of it; it doesn't happen as often as I'd like. Oh yeah", he seemed to shift up a gear, his feet becoming a blur as he began to softly clap his hands together in time with his pounding beat, "happy-hedgehog dance, happy-hedgehog dance".

"Though you said you weren't dancing", Nesi riposted, though the sarcasm of her comeback was lost on the deliriously-celebrating Mobian before her; deciding that trying to reason with him in this mood would be a waste of effort and breath, she tried to look directly in his eye and root out the reason for his erratic behaviour, "though since I'm completely at a loss as to why you're trying to shake the floorboards loose, could you at least tell me what you've done – I can take a reason able guess as to who you've done it to", she added as an afterthought, remembering all too vividly the multitude of times Julie had come into typing pool four with a face like thunder and a new juicy story to tell the girls regarding her rivalry with her flatmate. _And unless I miss my guess here_; just for a second she'd seen his eyes flick towards the interior of the room and tracked the movement like a homing missile, trying desperately to suppress a sudden smug, rosy glow of self-satisfaction; _this looks like being another one of those times_;

"Well I could tell you", the hedgehog wheedled, looking as smug as she'd ever seen him as he once more darted a glance at where her compatriots were still cocooned in their chairs, lost and away in their slumber, "but that'd be no fun; tell you what, I'll show you instead. Light". Nesi quickly squeezed her eyes shut as his hand shot out to the wall; there was a short pause before, as she knew it would, light suddenly blasted through her eyelids, making the world a white blur as she blinked her eyes open, adjusting to the light once more. As she blinked back her vision and the room slid into focus once more, Nesi realised quickly that she hadn't been the only one who'd been awoken by the sudden light storm; with a moaning yawn and stretch up, Rouge seemed to stir back into life. Rubbing her eyes, the guardian finally managed to shake her head and clear out the cobwebs; seeing the room around her and quickly recalling where she'd been before she fell asleep, a useful trick she'd picked up from her spying days, essential for when an undercover operative found themselves suddenly woken up or shaken by unforeseen circumstances and had to remember a convincing story at very short notice, she managed to raise a hand towards where the black, blurry outline that she guessed represented Shadow for the minute; _at least I think that's where the light switch is_;

"Hi guys, good night?" The shape nodded and so did she; unfortunately, though extremely well developed compared to a normal Mobians, Rouge's danger sense wasn't quite acute enough to pick out the malicious expression hovering around his lips. Therefore as she braced herself for a second and then exploded herself outwards, her normal stretch after falling asleep, it was only when she registered an uncomfortable, uncharacteristic weight around the bottom part of her legs that she opened her eyes again and looked down to see what the problem was.

It was only when she'd done that, and just after her jaw finished dropping at the spectacle that met her eyes, that Rouge finally understood what had happened and, a fraction of a second after making that deduction with the laughter of the other two ringing in her oversized ears, that she realised exactly why the bowl still around her feet was causing the aforementioned problem,

"You _haven't_?"

XXX

"You bet your sweet bat behind I have", Shadow managed to choke out over recurrent bouts of hysteria; though he'd been expecting a reaction, the way his former teammate had leant back to stretch and as a result had brought the bowl that had by now solidified into solid gelatine to waist height had just put the icing on the cake; _or, in this case_; the analogy popped into his head out of nowhere and he found himself laughing all the harder for it; _the custard on the trifle_; "melted about three and a bit packets in with the foot-powder, strong as it would go – what?" He looked away, seemingly coy as Rouges' expression of dumbfounded shock began to transmogrify into outraged horror, "It's a girly night in, you're supposed to get a bit jelly-legged". The comment just made Nesi howl all the harder with laughter; the echidna already had her face buried in the armrest of her seat at the sight before her, any more of this and she was certain she'd burst something internally. In this, however, she was to be disappointed; even in the face of his teammates' rapidly-purpling face, Shadow somehow remained aloof, a gambler with one final ace left to pull out his sleeve and trump the lot,

"Aww, don't give me those angry eyes Rouge, you know I get upset easily – look, I'll tell you what", having raised his hands in a placating gesture, the hedgehog suddenly transferred his gaze and evil leer to his second victim of the night, triumph etched deep in his voice as he placed Julie squarely in the target sights, "if it's any consolation you've got a friend in this".

Nesi nearly fell off her seat, positively screaming with mirth by now and with tears running freely down her cheeks; how she alone wasn't waking the other two up she could only hazard a guess at,

"Hehehe-her", she tried to speak but couldn't; pulling herself together marginally; she gathered her resolve and tried again, "her-hehehahaha!" Her valiant attempt broke down short but Shadow seemed to have got the gist of her query; favouring her with a benevolent smile, the former ultimate life-form turned back to the two targets of his plot, pointing out the one who was still comatose in slumber,

"Oh yes, her too, her especially too; so now", he rubbed his hands together, the glee that comes only from someone righting a long-standing wrong radiating from every pore in his body as he did so, "to spread the gospel".

"You wake her up and you're a braver Mobian than I am", Rouge managed to grate from between clenched teeth, fidgeting in her seat and she tried to so much as wriggle her toes though the jelly that was entombing them; _no, not a chance – damn this is some really thick gloop he brewed up_; even as she made the comment however, somehow she just knew the hedgehog wasn't going to be deterred this time,

"Juuu-lleeeeeee", his sing-song voice was poisonously sweet as he waltzed towards the comatose echidna, revelling in the moment and hamming it up gleefully for his audience, "wakey, wakey soldier-girl – time to face the bright new day!" Words alone, he knew, would never be enough to pierce the cocoon sleep seemed to lay over this particular Mobian – when his flatmate slept she slept like an absolute log; _so then_; stopping right at the foot of her chair and just making sure the trap had worked just as well second time around by taking a quick peek downwards, Shadow felt his heart leap as he realised that his genius had paid off; _time to chalk this one up on the leader board – break out the chainsaw lads_.

"Julie, Jules", he said, a little more firmly now, reaching out to gently shake her shoulder and grateful beyond words when she at last began to stir; _not long now_; "wake up; time to get you friends home now; party's over".

True to form, Julie's waking was a typically drawn out affair, a positive thing in Shadows' eyes as it gave him all the time he needed plus plenty spare to make sure he was clear of a potential danger zone should Julies' temper kick off when she realised the trap she'd quite literally just put her foot into. For a second he was terrified that she'd simply rip her feet out of the jelly snare without realising it, undo all his good work before she could bear witness to its sublime sneakiness, but he breathed out a second later; through strong, the augmented power in her arms didn't seem to transfer down to her legs as well and as a result, as he'd expected, a rain of verbal daggers came hurling forth from her furious lips the minute she realised both the trap she was in and the mastermind behind it. Knowing this was simply her way of complimenting him for a scheme well sprung, he let it continue for a few minutes, if only for the fact it her imaginative insults and war-like expression was driving her co-worker up through the stratosphere of hysteria, before jumping in as she took a breath for the first time in what felt like years,

"Julie, Julie!" He finally managed to bellow, shocking her just enough to get his words in edgeways, "Just calm down and sit tight a minute; think about your situation; after all", he just couldn't help himself, "not like you're going anywhere fast". The unsubtle message was enough of a spur to drive her forwards like a tank out of control; snarling furiously she drew her knees up, fully intending to rip the jelly off her feet before implanting one of them in a tender region of the hedgehog's anatomy; _jelly might be useful there – lubrication for when my boot goes up his a..._;

"Ah, ah, ah", somehow, as it always did, the warning in his words was just enough to give her pause for thought; _it's not going to be anything, it's not going to be worth my time even looking up_; with a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach, Julie knew this was an old argument she'd had a fair few times before and it was one she always seemed to lose; _but I'm going to do it anyway_. Finally and with exceptional ill-grace, the echidna managed to drag her eyeballs up towards where Shadow was standing, looking down on her with a mockingly-cautionary demeanour and wagging a finger warningly. He didn't say anything, he didn't have to – somehow, almost without her considering it, Julie felt her lips move to form the fateful question,

"Go on then", the former Legionnaire sighed, a mixture of irritation and world-weary acceptance in her tone, "what's your master plan this time?" Giving a happy grin the hedgehog rocked back onto his heels, both hands tapping rhythmically on his stomach as he grinned at his victims, evidently taking great joy in informing them of every nuance of their latest predicament,

"Remember how you all said that if you made any mess you'd clear it up; well obviously I don't know if you know how hard it is to get trifle out the carpet, especially if it's been all trodden in by some mad-woman trying to get her hands on her housemate, but I'm guessing it'd be at least an all-night job. And the spectacle", he pointed at the other guests the former Dark Legionnaire had invited to this little gathering; admittedly Nesi was herself a bit of a spectacle by this point, reduced as she was to a huddled bundle on her seat and dry-heaving for breath, and on top of that he'd hazard a guess that had Julie actually decided to go for him Rouge would have probably lent her a hand, but in essence the point was there, "what would your friends, and more importantly your office once Nesi gets through with it, say about it?"

_Think of an argument_; despite her most ingenious brainwork and the inarguable fact that if she didn't come up with a salient point very soon Shadow was have going to have outfoxed her logically as well as prankalogically – a word she'd come up with in her teens when she'd been working either with or against her adopted sister in friendly rivalries, childhood games that somehow seemed to have been resurrected ever since she'd kicked the Legion into touch and taken up residence in Echidnopolis with this particular flatmate. This time though it looked as though she'd come off second-best, but even if that was the case she wasn't going down without a fight; glaring up at the hedgehog, each precious second of thinking time won at the grievous cost of having to endure his abrasive smirk, but in the end both combatants were deadlocked right to the end; it was the introduction of a third voice into the contest that settled it and to Julie's chagrin, it was a voice directed straight at her,

"Jules honey", even the bats' expression had changed, more of a strained, polite smile towards her current comrade in suffering than a focused death-glare at its perpetrator, another stick thrust deeply into the anthill of the echidnas' rage, "we need a plan".

XXX

"Left, right, left, right...no?" Ignoring the muffled shrieks from behind him, where the still-hysterical Nesi was staggering weakly from wall to wall having managed to make into the hallway marginally faster than the tottering twosome in front of him, Shadow simply sized up the situation again and changed the cadence, "okay then – left, left, left, left..." For a second Julie paused in the midst of her shuffling steps to deliver a look of pure venom at the smirking drill sergeant the hedgehog seemed to have transformed into, all the while maintaining her sanity by thinking of happy things, like what she was going to do to him once the guests were safely ensconced away from this house. Up until that glorious moment, however, she could do little but endure his humiliating belittlements with stoicism as she planted her feet underneath her, as much as that were possible when they were still entombed in gelatine and Tupperware, and helped lever Rouge forwards another couple of precious feet.

It was a system they'd somehow cobbled together after deciding the best place to free them from this gunk-trap was the bathroom, where the risk of gelatinous damage to the furnishings was most likely to be minimal; having managed to get upright under their own power and collapse against one-another midway between their respective sitting places, they'd been forced to resort to this slow, exhausting form of locomotion to make sure they could get where they needed to be as soon as possible, if only to wipe that infuriating smirk off Shadow's face. Therefore Julie once more slid her arms under the back of the bats' thighs, braced herself and then exploded upwards, half-catapulting Rouge a few more feet forwards, the guardians arm around her neck to make sure that they were never separate and, more importantly, that she didn't lose her balance during the motion. From there it was a simple expedient of her catching up to the bat in a series of shuffling bunny-hops before taking a momentary pause and starting the whole laborious process again; it wasn't graceful and it certainly wasn't quick, but slowly and surely, they were getting closer to their goal – the bathroom door was almost within Rouge's grasp, another one of these tormenting cycles and they'd be home and dry,

"There you are ladies", in a uncharacteristic display of chivalry Shadow leant over and twisted the door handle, opening their way for them though Julie determinedly avoided catching his eye in case he tried to count it later as part of an apology, "all approved Shadow-sponsored nights in come with ensuite facilities built in as standard". _Didn't think you'd say much to that_; as the pair of them hobbled inside Shadow kept his eyes on his flatmate, though true to form she didn't so much as scowl at him as she stumped inside; _still, right at this moment I really don't care – not when it feels_; as the door banged shut behind the two of them he let himself go; _this damn good!_

Pumping his fists into the air in triumph the black hedgehog capered around madly for a minute, sheer celebration pouring though his bloodstream, a drug he simply couldn't get enough of. He'd waited for this minute, this unique opportunity to get back at the two Mobians who ditched him in the soup with the Brotherhood, for almost a month – it felt even better than even he'd dared to predict, especially as he realised this time, just to really hammer home the message, he had an audience to his latest malicious scheme. As Nesi finally managed to stand up straight and wipe an arm across her eyes, he turned to her with a beaming smile; the expression alone almost made her crack up again as she covered her mouth with both hands, her crinkled eyes and deep dimpled cheeks betraying how hard she was having to fight to stay in even marginal control,

"I need to get you in with my husband", dragging her hands down her face Nesi shook her head, breathing deeply as she tried to massage her cheeks, groaning, "you two'd get on like a house on fire; oh my face hurts – I haven't laughed so much since our wedding reception".

"Sounds like a barrel of laughs", Shadow remarked dryly before a sudden though occurred to him, "better than your hen night was it?"

"Yeah, but not for those reasons", she admitted before elaborating, "my uncle had a couple too many and tried to hit on one of Xodi's friends; let's just say the phrase 'champagne shower' has never been more appropriate than it was just then. I thought I was going to die laughing – he almost had to carry me to cut the cake". At this the black hedgehog also sniggered, though not quite for the same reasons; only when he was sure he was once more in control of himself and therefore unlikely to infect the echidna with the giggles again did he speak up again, nodding towards the shut bathroom door,

"Sounds about right there Ness; you know Rouge", after a second remembering she nodded; _what was it Julie called her – a bat wasn't it. Yeah, that's right, bat_; "well when she got married something a bit similar to that cropped up – ask Julie", he said quickly, raising a hand to forestall further questioning at the same time as mentally recalibrating where he'd stand with his flatmate by this time tomorrow; _reckon I can rely on Nesi to spread this story around, Julie retaliates by pointing out exactly what made batgirls' reception such a scream – yeah, I reckon that makes us equal_; "I assure you she'll be all too happy to fill in the gory details. Anyway, apart from that", he glanced over with an impish grin; Nesi for a second felt an insane urge to laugh before she quashed it quickly, not wanting to let herself go into uncontrollable mirth again just yet, "I trust I can rely on you to spread the story around the typing pool tomorrow?"

As he'd hoped the echidna nodded, this time unable to hide her burgeoning smile and smirk as she mentally pictured the reactions this little story would provoke around her normal crowd of regulars; _especially Kadu – he only lives a few floors above her for goodness sake, he should be able to make this one last for at least a couple of weeks_;

"You bet I will; the way they both walked right into it", once more the vision of Rouge's expression collapsing as she viewed the bowl stuck fast on the bottom of her legs tingled in the back of her mind and she had to stifle a rising snigger, "oh that was absolutely priceless, I'll never be able to look at a plateful of trifle the same way again". Shadow let a dark smile slip greasily over his face, the same visions that were tormenting Nesi into laughing simultaneously allowing him to bask in glorious triumph,

"And if I'm any judge", the former ultimate life-form muttered evilly, glancing once more at the door and trying his hardest to picture the scene in there at the moment and listen for the curses being levelled at his name like the rifles of a firing squad, "neither will either of those two".

XXX

"I hate that hedgehog!"

Just for once Rouge decided that losing her balance and half-falling forwards onto the sink was actually a bonus in this case; as her friends' toxic comment seemed to corrode the very air around her with its maliciousness the bat found herself having to conceal a sudden urge to laugh. Fortunately the echidna seemed too wrapped up in her own fiendish fit of temper to pay much attention, hobbling over to the edge of the bath and sitting down on the polished enamel – there was a second of silence, the calm before the storm, before the lock on Julie's lips was broken beyond repair and she stormed off into a terrifying monologue,

"As if it's not bad enough he humiliates me in private, oh no, he absolutely loves to go the whole hog and show me up in front of everyone else too! I wouldn't mind so much if tonight had been the first time but no, not for Blackie, not by a long chalk", caught up in her self-justification for hating her flatmate Julie started ticking off on her fingers, apparently not noticing Rouge regain her balance and start to look longingly towards the seat she now occupied, "you know he's done it twice, _twice_, in front of the whole of the EST? Right in the middle of work, first he shows me up with that spirit-damned tape of his, and then, then he goes one better and drops me right in it, breaks the bloody no-phones rule without me even knowing about it 'til it's too late! I got a recorded interview with Remington, you know; chief of the whole EST has to come down out his office to slap me on the wrist, and it's always, always his fault. The second I get out of...what?" _Finally_; as the echidna looked up bad-temperedly at where Rouge had been frantically trying to get her attention, Rouge hopped forwards, planting both hands on the enamel next to her friends' seat as she looked up beseechingly, trying to ignore the acidic pain in her feet,

"Shift up would you Jules; I've got cramp in my toe".

Julie looked perplexed for a minute before appearing to recall the barest hint of good manners; hastily throwing herself to her feet and wind-milling her arms in time to catch her balance, she hopped forwards a few paces to let the bat sit down. It was a seat Rouge took gratefully, the bat composing herself for a second before swinging her legs up and over, the bottom of the Tupperware bowl slamming into the base of the bath with a hollow thunk. Reaching over towards the taps, Rouge let a thin stream of water trickle out of the hot tap at the same time as reach down with her free hand, gripping the rim of her impromptu prison and bracing herself. _Uurgh_; it wasn't so much the feeling as the noise that made her feel queasy, the unpleasant slurping noise that greeted her efforts of pull first her left foot, then her right foot free of the light-yellow prison, the jelly apparently reluctant to release what it had been able to catch. It was so reluctant, in fact, that the bat had to resort to using both hands to almost dig herself free, grateful that her wings let her balance on the precarious ledge of the bath itself; the relief she felt when she was finally able to wriggle her toes again, however, more than made up for such disgust. Slowly extending one foot under the taps to wash off the last residues of the horrible ooze, the guardian finally remembered to tune back into the entertainment on offer, Julie not one to let a lack of breath restrain her when on the attack, especially when Shadow was the prime target of her wrath,

"He's unbearable, that's the plain and simple truth of it; I just can't live like this any more, him constantly on my nerves, me always on edge – just seeing him makes me cringe these days, there's got to be a better way than..."; _okay, that's it_; mentally steeling herself, Rouge waited until the echidna slowed down to snatch down a breath to deliver her verdict on the subject and, maybe, put some light on the situation from a different angle, all the more piquant as it was a light shining from her own recent history; _time to settle things down here and now_;

"Julie", looking over her shoulder and taking in the former soldiers' warmongering expression, the look she knew that meant Julie was spoiling for a fight, the bat nodded slowly as she decided to make one point absolutely clear, "I know exactly how you feel".

_Good_; vindication swept through her like a tsunami of searing ice, justification for her wanting quite legitimate vengeance on the hedgehog for his underhanded strike – before she could continue her mental plotting and scheming of a way to make sure Shadow would rue this night for the rest of even his eternal life, she had to put such ideas on hold as the bat spoke again,

"A while ago, couple of years now, there was this guy I knew; well, I say knew, perhaps 'knew and hated his guts' is a lot closer the truth", the ex-spy admitted unequivocally, a slight shrug on her shoulders and rueful smile on her lips as she admitted this truth, Julie lending a close ear as she realised it wasn't like Rouge to be quite this open about her past; _Shadow told me she's done some things she's not proud of – believe me girl, I know how that feels_; "seemed like every time we got together, or even saw each other, that was it, we'd be fighting away like rats in a drainpipe".

"Nothing serious I hope?"

"You bet it was serious"; _what?_; that Julie hadn't been expecting – she stared over at the storyteller with wide eyes as the bat nodded solemnly before continuing, "we scrapped with each other like there was no tomorrow, he even broke my finger at one point", she conceded, pointing at the ring finger of her right hand with a wince, though her eyes hardened immediately afterwards, "though I nailed him back for that; I'll bet he didn't walk straight for a week afterwards when I was through with him".

"A week?" Julie goggled at this before snarling, pounding one fist into her palm, "I'd have made sure he never walked again".

"Believe me I was trying", the bat hissed dangerously before, to Julies' surprise, her expression softened a little; like wax brought too near a candle, the hard lines of her face and around her lips were remoulded to a different set, a wistful kind of annoyance instead of out-and-out battle-lust, "but, after that, it all went a bit stale; we stopped it in the end, mutual consent I think – we just got sick of fighting all the time, though we didn't quite stop at that", she added, a devious glint in her eye as she smirked towards the echidna, who'd been looking a little down in the mouth at her last statement, "we just worked in a different way this time; sorry to bring it up like this, but you and Shadow remind me a lot of those days".

"Us?" Julie snorted for a minute before shaking her head, "We'd scratch each others' eyes out given half a chance, or at least I would after this – come on", she appealed as Rouge rolled her eyes with an exasperated sigh, "would you blame me?"

"Maybe not, just because of this", the bat admitted as she leant forwards to try and rub the worst of the unmelted jelly out from between her toes, "but anyway, back to my point, what happened next between us is a bit of a warning for you Jules so pay attention". The echidna raised an eyebrow,

"Thought you said it all died down?"

"No, I said things changed", Rouge corrected her, setting her on the right path after a second to let this novel idea sink in, "it changed from fighting physically to fighting mentally; daring, challenging, all that sort of thing, and neither of us would take a backwards step – things started to get all out of hand and, eventually", she couldn't quite bring herself to meet the echidnas eye as she finished her confession, "well, I hate to admit it really, but I did it – I took the absolute plunge and went way out over the line".

Though normally quite a reserved Mobian compared to most, this time Julie had been sucked in good and proper; unable to quite contain herself and prevented from leaning forwards only by the rationale that nose-diving into the side of a bath often stung, she kept her gaze squarely on the bats' face and husked the final question,

"What was it Rouge?" _Poison, knife, garrotting – do you really have blood on your hands batgirl?_; she had to know, even if the lurch in the pit of her stomach told her in no uncertain terms that if something as dire had that ever had occurred in the past, the relationship she had with this Mobian would never be the same again, "what did you do?" Only now did the bat meet her eyes, a wan smile on her face as she relived a bitter-sweet moment,

"I proposed to him", she turned her face away at the crucial moment, the fingers of her right hand massaging the ring finger of her left, feeling the ridges of her wedding ring under her glove and buoyed by its presence, the same way she had been ever since Knuckles had placed it there, "and I was the most shocked Mobian alive when he accepted me. We've never really changed since Jules; still fighting, still squabbling and relying on each other, it's the way things are now, the way they'll always be I hope. So don't hate too much Julie-Su", for some reason Rouge felt a sudden tightness in her throat, but as she focussed on the echidna now behind her rather than the guardian in her mind, the unpleasant sensation dissipated, "I'm the prime example of what really loathing someone can do to you, to both of you".

She said nothing more, merely bent down to finish washing her feet, alert for even the tiniest hint of denial, defamation from behind her, but there came none; Julie was silent for all the time they rid themselves of Shadows' most recent trap, though whether that was from shock, deep pondering or disgust at her tale, Rouge knew she would never fully know – it was an answer time and time alone would be able to reveal to them all.

XXX

Luckily, as much for his safety as the other twos' sanity, Shadow knew when a joke had gone far enough; therefore when both Julie and Rouge came clomping into the kitchen together, feet damp and expressions poisonous, the hedgehog knew just what to do to avoid bloodshed before the night was out,

"My lips are sealed", he proclaimed sweetly before swigging down the last of the juice he'd fixed himself, Nesi similarly polishing off her beverage despite nearly choking with laughter as her memory was once again prangled by the events of a few moments before, "anyway, after all that excitement I'm sorry to say it but the night really is over this time", giving a shrug he looked at the three women with a mixture of apology and regret on his face, spreading his arms wide and indicating the door, "it's getting close to half-tenish now and I really could do with an early start come tomorrow; you could too if what you other half told me earlier in the week's right". Rouge shivered,

"Please don't remind me", the bat groaned as she recalled the long list of chores she and the Chaotix combined had to somehow plough through before next weekend, "the work I can live with, it's what comes after it that's really getting my goat".

"Don't be rotten, Sonic's really not that bad; sometimes", he added, the sheer volume of scepticism in his former team mates' expression alone forcing him to add that clause into the statement; _time for a different track methinks_; "look on the bright side, he'll have Amy with him to keep an eye on the pair of you".

That did the trick; almost immediately there was a smile rather than a frown gracing Rouge's winsome face and she shrugged,

"Hey, I'm perfectly able to handle myself – it's not my fault the Smurf's got a propensity for name-calling and other childish games". Trying his hardest to play along as he knew how hot the water he was in with the bat at this moment in time probably was, Shadow attempted to surreptitiously support his absent friend at the same time as clamp down on the laughter the bat's last self-defeating sentence was trying to evoke in him,

"Well I won't say he's white as snow but, come on", he indicated himself with a thumb, standing tall and proud, "I lived with him for that long and I'm still sane..."

"That's a matter of opinion", a low voice growled from somewhere, Julie's earthquake tones violently jolting her flatmates' train of thought off the rails; before she could add any more, however, he was able to clamber back into the engineers' box and haul his cargo onto the right track again,

"...so trust me, you'll survive a weekend with him. Hang on", looking around, and having been thinking so much of Sonic over the past couple of seconds, the absence of one of the blue hedgehogs' other, older friends from this gathering suddenly struck him right between the eyes, "we're one short here".

Almost as though struck by lightning the other three Mobians jolted, heads turning left and right quickly to see that Shadow was indeed right in this statement, Julie slightly the faster to the punch as she verbalised the question that was plaguing them all mentally,

"That's a point; where's Might?"

"She can't still be in the lounge can she – surely not?" Nesi shook her head as the idea of someone still asleep after all that had occurred there simply failed to compute, "after the racket we were all making, and the two of you blundering around, er, sorry, no offence meant by that – no, she must be up and about".

"I wouldn't count on it", Rouge remarked, a laugher in her voice that she suddenly didn't feel any more masking her deeper suspicions, "heard it from her roomies, she sleeps deeper than Julie does apparently".

"No chance"; _damn_; she was fractionally beaten to the punch by the hedgehog and swore viciously that once her guests were away she'd be certain to repay the savage beating as Shadow went on, "you've seen what she's like – the next step down from her droning out the Z's is a coma". Rouge raised a hand, forestalling further comment or retribution,

"Vecs' words, not mine; still, as she's providing my ticket out of here", the bat edged towards the door, crossing her fingers that everyone here would take her comments at face value, not recognise the deeper concern behind her needing a drop-off home for the evening, "I suppose I'd better go get her". Before anyone could come up with a statement to gainsay the bat on this point, Rouge had simply disappeared down the hallway as though she'd never been in the kitchen at all.

XXX

_What's happening with you Mighty, you and the rest of them now I think about it_; stood above the laid-back and passed out form of the armadillo a few minutes later Rouge let her front of unconcern melt away to expose the genuine and deep concern it had been concealing; standing stock still and watching the armadillo slumbering, the former spy stared deep into the other Mobians' face as though her eyes alone could prise the knowledge she was after out of its unconscious host.

Seeing the armadillo in the flesh at this close range, it was only now that Rouge finally managed to see just how poor the female Chaotix looked right now; though little appeared wrong with her to a casual observer, someone who knew the armadillo and her work mates as well as she did could instantly see that something, and something huge at that, was eating away at them all. Normally full of face, Mighty now looked pinched, drained, her cheeks hollow; it seemed that a kind of gaunt hunger for something the bat couldn't name drove her onwards instead of her usual contentment with life letting her cruise along at her normal, comfortable speed. As her friends' chest rose and fell in a slumber so deep neither light nor noise had thus far been able to penetrate it, Rouge felt her stomach start to knot itself into a solid ball of unease – something just wasn't right at the minute, though the bat wasn't sure if she was the only one who realised it. She wrestled with her both her common sense and her conscience for a minute before striking something of a compromise in her head; _can't do anything here and now_; that much was obvious; the last thing she wanted to do was simultaneously embarrass Mighty and provoke the interest of her other friends into the armadillo's plight; _but that doesn't mean you're getting away scot-free Mighty. For now though_;

"Mighty", the bat tapped the side of her friends' face lightly, "Might – come on baby, time to wake up and smell the home-cooking; you can dream about your boyfriend later". Still the armadillo didn't wake at such gentle urgings, a fact that only cemented the need to talk uppermost in Rouge's mind; it was only when the bat pinched her nose shut that, with a succession of gasping splutters, Mighty jolted awake, peeling open her gummed-up eyelids in time to peer blearily into the fuzzy white smear in front of her face.

"Whug?" Tongue and brain not quite on the same wavelength, the armadillo flopped around on her seat a little, flailing this way and that until a different voice added a little piece of clarity to the rampant confusion in her mind,

"Never mind 'whug' Mich";_ who, what...oh, oh yeah_; memory trickled back to her mind as slowly and with as many pins and needles as feeling percolated back into her body, "we've gotta get home before the blokes in our lives get suspicious". Blinking again against the furious light in her eyes and only now realising how cold her feet were, the armadillo allowed the world to slide back into focus, peering up at Rouges' face for a minute before looking away to drag in a massive yawn.

"Time already?"

"Yeah – shame really, I was just getting into it; pretty good kipping there, but I'm afraid I have to secede the crown of top sleeper to you Might. Through a light I can understand but through two people trying to slap you into some semblance of sense", the bat shook her head, "I bet even Vector would be hard-pressed to beat that one".

"You'd think so, but I know better", the armadillo intoned flatly, gripping the armrests of her seat and using the leverage to heave herself unsteadily to her still-freezing cold feet. Rouge waited until she was fully upright before handing her a towel, filling the armadillo in on what had happened as she dried her feet and slipped her shoes and socks on,

"I reckon I might be able to hazard a guess", the bat admitted before shrugging, "anyhow, we'll hand out the prizes on the trip back; right now Shadow wants his privacy back"; _Julie as well if I'm any judge – no witnesses that way_. Mighty nodded,

"Suits me; I'll just get my coat and be on my way; I suggest you do the same unless you fancy a long walk back". The bat shook her head vigorously at that unsubtle threat,

"No chance of that; I feel like I've got new feet at the minute, I'm not going to wear them out just yet. Get yourself ready, I'll tell Shadow and the others we're about ready to move".

"Go ahead", the armadillo replied without much in the way on enthusiasm, standing up at last having done up her shoelaces, "I'll be with you in a second". Nodding her assent even if inside her heart felt like it was being slowly dissected on an operating table as it watched one of her close friends struggle along in the face of something she didn't understand and couldn't do anything about, Rouge slipped out the door again, mind already ablaze with thoughts of what she could do to try and excise the cancer eating away at her friends' spirit.

To her not-so-great surprise, the bat found herself aided in this aim by Julie, albeit admittedly; the mechanised echidna was so transparently desperate to sate her lust for vengeance on Shadow that she was bending the rules of decorum to their absolute limit in order to make sure she had a clear playing field to engage the hedgehog on. In order to service this craving, the echidna's guests found themselves almost shooed out the apartment block after little more than a brief re-introduction to the black hedgehog and a chance to grab their coats. Thundering down the stairs, Julie was a speaking like a machine-gun on full burst fire, spitting words out like bullets as she gestured to the door for everyone,

"Okay, you two remember where you parked okay?" Mighty nodded, as did Rouge after the bat recalled she too was a passenger this time; _damn, just got too used to walking or flying everywhere – doesn't feel right to be in a car or van any more_. Satisfied, Julie quickly moved on to her next target,

"Nesi, you're sure you're okay walking? I know a good taxi firm if you need a want a ride home".

"Nah, trust me I'm fine, I've done this a hundred times before. Besides", she shrugged, shouldering her bag and flicking her head towards the door, "me and some punk on a dark night – where's your money going?" A shark-like smile flickered on the former Legionnaire's lips,

"Fair point, I wouldn't like to try it put it like that. Besides that though, I suppose there's no chance me swearing you to secrecy over what happened?" Nesi's eyes crackled suddenly with mirth again, forcing her to cover her mouth with one hand to prevent the two wronged party's seeing her spreading smile,

"Not a chance babe; sorry but that's going down in office legend that one"; as Mighty looked around slightly enquiringly Rouge gave her the nod, letting her know she'd fill her in later, after they were away and giving Julie the privacy she needed to obtain whatever revenge she deemed necessary to even the score between her and her flatmate. Giving a last wave, Mighty headed for the door first, ducking outside without another word and quickly followed by Nesi; Rouge hung back a little, nipping in close to whisper to her friend just before departing,

"Go for it girl; just remember whatever you do to him you've got my full support". Julie nodded but said nothing and Rouge, realising from the thousand-yard stare and gritted teeth that the echidnas' attention was focussed on something other than conversation right now. Without another word the bat departed, plotting in her head even if she heard, at the edge of her audible range over the apartment front door slamming, the sound of booted feet running into the distance; _Shadow_; much as she'd tried to cushion the blow for her former teammate, she still didn't fancy much for his chances if the echidna did decide to simply go in swinging; _whatever happen I wish you good luck and, if necessary, God-speed as well!_

XXX

Almost without realising it Julie found herself hurtling over to and up the stairs back towards her apartment, feet flying underneath her even as she suddenly realised she didn't have the faintest clue about what she was going to do when she got there. The only things she did know, the two facts that were anchoring her to this strange and unplotted course of action was the knowledge that Shadow was upstairs, and that Shadow had just dropped the mother of all bombshells on both her and, even more grievously, a very close friend of hers; _to say nothing of the fact that, thanks to Nesi_; her hand wrapped around the corner post of the banister, practicing a crushing grip that she was almost certain she'd be utilising on her flatmate at some stage in the evening as her thoughts raced ahead of her at light speed; _this'll be all over the office first thing Monday morning_. He had to pay, he simply had to know a measure of the humiliation he'd just put her through and pay for it in pain; she almost kicked her front door in such was her haste to get towards the architect of her latest prat-fall, tearing into the kitchen, finding no sign of him there – she burst into the hallway only to be brought to a sudden dead stop – somehow, without realising it, she must have missed him in the darkness of the hallway, because Shadow was stood there, not six feet away.

Something, she wasn't quite sure what exactly, hammered hard in her chest before over spilling to flood her throat with hot, sticky warmth; without ceremony Julie stormed forwards, slamming on the brakes only when she was right up in the hedgehog's face, but unable to speak suddenly. Her fist shot upwards, trembling with the strange emotion but unable to utter a single word; she tried but failed to break through the roadblock in her airways, a single finger extending from her fist and shaking like a leaf as the hedgehog merely observed her, a placid expression on his face as he watched her display of impotent fury. After a minute has passed with this stationary tableau on display, Julie could only watch on as her flatmate made the first move; his hand advanced, open, his expression breaking into an expectant smile,

"Square?"

Her finger retracted into her fist immediately; how _dare _he try to sweep this under the carpet as though the indignity of tonight could in any way compare to the minor trifling he'd dallied with at the hands of the Brotherhood – he'd even got a meal out of it at the end of it for goodness sake! She drew her arm back, face thrust forwards, ready to swing and shatter the mask of calm expectation that had clamped down on Shadow's face, but her arm would not move, she could not punch the hedgehog for some unknown reason. Struggle and strain as she might to convince whatever was holding her back that he really did deserve what was coming to him, Julie felt her arm start to drop, anesthetising acceptance starting to numb over her sense of grievance and revenge, but she wouldn't go down without a fight; her knuckles rose again, just once more, before her arm suddenly became too heavy to hold. It fell to her side, defeated just as she was for the minute as she shook her head at the bizarreness of the situation; _this would never have washed a few months ago – I'd be wiping the floor with him to wipe that smile off his face, but now..._; now her arm would move, but it wouldn't throw a punch – instead, with a heavy sigh from its owner, that same arm swung around, softly slapping its fingers against those of the hedgehogs', a low growling admission mimicking such an action,

"Square".

_Here we go then_; she just knew what was going to happen following her capitulation, and sure enough it was quick to start; she fancied she could almost feel the aura of the hedgehogs' superiority swelling up around him – any second now he was going to focus that conceit and use it try and blow her away with a sarcastic comment. However, her eyebrow rose as it appeared he didn't even try to speak, he just continued to stand there and watch her, his apparent air of coolness still intact and utterly unbearable for her straight after having to swallow such a bitter pill. With a dismissive tut the echidna made to push past her flatmate but found herself arrested as at last Shadow moved; his arm thrust out to his side, arresting her movement; she stood as tense as a divining rod, teeth gritted so firmly it was a miracle they didn't break, but as his arm coiled around her shoulders she felt some of the tension drain out of her, enough at least for closest arm to reciprocate the motion, wrapping itself around the hedgehogs' waist almost before shed' realised she'd moved to pull herself in a little tighter. Resting her head slightly on his shoulder and feeling a similar sensation as Shadow's cheek fell into place at the top of her head, Julie felt the sensation in her throat dissolve a little, allowing her to speak slightly, though not quite in the tone she would have wanted to use,

"Don't do that again you git", it wasn't the threat she was hoping for, but at least it wasn't an outright plea; a forthright request was perhaps the most accurate description of her words. She felt as much as heard the hedgehogs answer,

"You know me Jules"; _unfortunately yes, I do_; "no cheap laughs". Ironically, those words actually did make the echidna laugh as she stepped back, sliding out of Shadow's arm with a dangerous smirk on her lips,

"You what? Cheap laughs at my expense are the only ones you ever get". An ebon eyebrow rose slightly, acceptance of the challenge thrown down,

"Oh is that right Ms Su? Well at least those laughs really do work well – did you see the state Nesi was in earlier?"

"Yeah", the former Legionnaire grunted sourly, once more reminded that the consequences for that little action would have to be faced Monday morning, "thanks for that Shady, I'm going to be the talk of the EST come the start of next week – that's the third time you've managed that now".

"Third time lucky – you know what they say", he riposted with a grin, though he turned slightly more serious as Julie folded her arms stubbornly, refusing to take this joke at least, "oh come on, smile – listen, go check out the fridge if you really need cheering up that badly; I stopped off on the way home". She tried to see through his expression to see what his plan was this time but found herself defeated; he gave nothing away and, eventually, she had to slip away to the kitchen to assuage her own curiosity if nothing else. _Three, two, one..._; Shadow counted down mentally until he heard the fridge door open; only when Julie reappeared in the doorway looking, if not quite overjoyed then at least somewhat mollified, did he allow himself to smile,

"Okay", she admitted reluctantly, "I'm a little bit happier; anything on for us to enjoy them with?"

"Dunno, I'll check the paper", Shadow headed for the lounge before something in Julies' previous statement brought him up short, "wait a minute, us?" The echidna nodded slowly; though it would be a bind to give away some of the candy-covered hickory nuts she was so fond of, overall she reckoned she was a trade worth making; _after all, he did say no cheap laughs on that one so I suppose I should be grateful for small mercies_;

"Yes, the royal we, though at the speed you're moving they'll be melted before we're sat down", she explained before chivvying him along impatiently, "get shifting, we've got places to be; I want to put my feet up". _Oops!_

It was a cheap laugh perhaps but, as she'd brought it on herself, Julie couldn't really complain as her flatmate shattered utterly, falling to his knees with the giggles as he kept glanced at her up and down, pounding the floor as Julie glared at him before finally giving in herself, laughing along with the hedgehog at the state of the world and all its tiny, funny idiosyncrasies.

XXX

Even before the thunk of the van doors unlocking had died away in the echoes Rouge had flung open the passenger door and hurled herself inside, slamming the thick metal barrier into place behind her and shivering as Mighty seemed to take a much more sedate pace in getting herself seated properly,

"Come on Might, get the door shut", the bat tried to chivvy her friend along, rubbing her hands together as she pressed them between her thighs to try and get them warmed up following exposure to the bitter night air, "and crank up the heating if you can, or will the engine blow up if you do that still?"

"No", the armadillo intoned, reaching forwards and twiddling a knob on the dashboard before mechanically twisting the key in the ignition and gunning the van into gear, "it was the old van that you couldn't trust to do more than go from A to B on a good day; we've gone a bit more upmarket since then".

"They've been doing that even since you came on board Might", the bat assured her, a back-handed compliment as she planned where she ought to go from here – what would be the best way to crack the nut of this problem; would a scalpel of a sledgehammer give better results? "Though saying that so's Knuckles; amazing what a woman's tender touch can do?" She gave a slight chuckle, totally fake and therefore utterly feeble in trying to encourage a similar reaction from her friend; Mighty didn't even look her way, instead simply flicking on the headlights and, after checking the deserted car park really was deserted, slid into first gear to pull away properly. As she paused at the street-lit intersection onto the main road Rouge, having spent the last few seconds hammering together something that looked vaguely like a plan in her mind, tried to implement her last-minute strategy,

"Well, that was one crazy night wasn't it?"

"Was it?" Mighty glanced past her as she spoke, checking for traffic, "I slept right through it remember".

"'Course you did", the guardian groaned as though she'd only just remembered that fact, "in that case then I'd better set the record straight before Shadow gets the chance to; ever read, in one of Charmy's old comics that I know you haven't got any more", she added with a teasing lilt in her voice, recalling the vast mountain of old, illustrated gold that seemed to have migrated under the armadillos' bed after the youngest member of the Chaotix had finished with them, "when some poor, innocent heroine's dozing off in a nice, hot bath and some evil sod comes in and pours blancmange or something into it while they're asleep?" The armadillo seemed to think for a minute before shaking her head, half an eye on the passenger seat now; _good, got her attention where I need it_; as the other one and half stayed firmly on the road – Mighty had always been the most cautious driver out of the Chaotix,

"No, can't say that one's ever blipped on the radar. Why?"

"Because that's what happened to me and Julie", Rouge admitted, her chin dropping moodily onto the top of her fist, "rotten so-and-so only went and melted jelly into our foot-soaks; when we woke up we were both stuck like bugs in amber – oh I could've killed him", she snorted suddenly, struck by a sudden, cheering thought, "come to think of it I'd be amazed if Jules hasn't beaten me to it by now".

As she'd half-expected and half-feared, stony silence followed this admission; though she'd looked over again for a minute as though trying to see some kind of lie creeping through a chink in the bat's armour and throwing what appeared to be a fantastical story into doubt, Mighty hadn't so much as smiled at the rendition of what was, Rouge was forced to grudgingly admit in the cold light of day, a very well thought through and executed plan; _this must be as bad as I'd been afraid of, if not worse_. Feeling she had nothing really to lose in this as it seemed impossible to tempt a comment out of the armadillo at the minute, Rouge decided to throw if not quite her hand, then at least a few of her cards down,

"Oh come on", she kept her tone light, knowing it was essential to keep Mighty from suspecting her hunt for information until the last possible moment, "I'm not bitter about it – it was a bloody good idea he came up with. No reason to be upset on my account Mich – there's nothing you can do but laugh about it as far as I can see".

_Damn_; she'd been caught out here – on one level Mighty had always known that throughout the night she should have tried harder, she'd been acting almost as though detached from the real world and that sooner or later that was going to swing around and bite her in the tail, but at the same time another part of her had simply given up the struggle entirely, surrendering to the calmness and trying to persuade the rest of her to simply shut down and let it go. It was this encroaching, enfeebling illusion that the armadillo now found herself fighting to throw off again; _but why – just stop running..._; but she couldn't because if she did, if even for a second she took her foot off the gas, she knew she'd let something vital slip from her numb lips; _what's the problem though, it's bound to happen eventually..._; and that, if she was found to be the culprit of such treachery, the Chaotix would never forgive her and she doubted she would ever be able to forgive herself such weakness at the crucial moment,

"I'm not bitter either", she heard the words in a voice she didn't recognise as her own; a horrible, jokey tone that only served to magnify the bitter emptiness that seemed to swirl through to vortex in her soul, her inner reserved sucked dry as though attacked by a plague of locusts from within, "I'm just surprised, in fact I'm astounded that you, a true artiste in subterfuge like this, was submarined like that; how did Shadow get the jump on you like that?"

"No idea but I'll tell you this much", phantom pain twinged in her toes again as Rouge made a dire proclamation, "he only get away with it once; next time I'll...in fact I won't have to do anything", the bat suddenly declared, slouching back in her seat and folding her arms, nose stuck up in the air in a determined manner as she finished her statement, "there's not going to be a next time".

"I should hope not", Mighty answered, still in that hideous, falsely hearty tone that set her teeth on edge, "consider yourself lucky; most spies who make mistakes generally don't live long enough to repeat them from what I've heard". Rouge tossed her head aside as though affronted by this blatant questioning of her abilities,

"Amateurs", she muttered damningly, holding that pose for just a split-second, just long enough to be believable before taking another cautious step forwards along the path she'd plotted, hoping to get a little closer to the core of the matter plaguing her friend; with that in mind she relaxed her rigid pose somewhat, expression softening as she muttered again, her tone contrite and even slightly complimentary this time, "though, all right I have to admit it I suppose; it was one hell of a scheme, and he pulled it off like a pro – it's a shame you didn't see it Might, Nesi was in absolute stitches. Why were you out so badly though – I knew you were tired but that", she shook her head and tailed off; _this is it_; by the shifting of her friends' expression Rouge knew she'd just hit the crisis point – either this would work here and now and she'd have her answers, or it wouldn't and she'd be back at square one, "what's gotten you this hard Mighty; don't tell me Vec's been playing his music at all hours again because I know it's not true; I'm asking you as a friend".

_I know_; and it was that knowledge that was the cruellest dagger of all; not one to cast aside the hand of friendship unless such as a gesture was laced with poison, Mighty knew whatever she said next would be a hammer blow no matter what direction she decided to pursue; _lie and I know Rouge'll twig I'm lying, don't lie..._ The latter thought was a mute point, one she knew she couldn't even begin to think about now – like or loathe it, and loathe it she most assuredly did, the armadillo had no choice but to willingly embrace the lesser of two terrible evils,

"Nothing's wrong Rouge; I said", she half-shouted as she saw the bat start to open her mouth from the corner of her eye; _got to nip this in the bud now – if she asks again..._; "nothing is wrong, just leave it at that". Rouge raised her hands placatingly, her tone likewise soothing as she realised that here was the wrong place, this was not the right time to approach such a delicate subject – it would have to wait,

"Okay, okay, I know where my big nose isn't wanted", she added with something like a laugh in her voice, though in the next second her tone became stony – most of the doubt in her mind she'd scrubbed away for now but there was one, a single, persistent worm of doubt lodged in the back of her mind that she needed stamped out now and, unfortunately, Mighty was the only one who could do such a thing, "just promise me this – whatever's under your skin's nothing to do with Big".

The van lurched forwards at about the same speed Rouge's heart did; for a split-second the bat had been sure the armadillo was about to strike her and certainly the rictus grimace that had seized Mighty's lips seemed to suggest that would be the case; however, as the van pulled off again, the engine failing to stall even as Mighty's foot had slipped off the accelerator and punched onto the brake, such an expression dissipated to leave behind something else, something the guardian couldn't place on the armadillo's face. Mighty seemed to take a deep breath, looking down almost into her lap before bringing her eyes upwards, her appearance more craggy and careworn than Rouge had ever seen it before,

"No", she whispered, the word almost inaudible even to a bats' supersensitive hearing, "nothing to do...with him". Rouge meant to say something else at that point but hesitated, not sure what her friend needed to hear at the minute, but such a pause was perhaps a godsend in disguise as while she was thinking, Mighty rallied somewhat and managed to speak again, her tone slightly clearer this time around as she shook her head, trying to stop her eye being singed by the tears at their corners,

"I'll say no more Rouge; please don't ask anything else or I'll have to just drop you off here, and I don't want to do that for your sake as much as mine. Just, leave it alone and let us work it out in our own time, it's the only way, understand?" The bat nodded, remaining as silent as the armadillo obviously wanted her to be until the sturdy little van reached the edge of Echidnopolis, little more than a half-hour walk or, in Rouge's case, a ten minute flight back to the home she had made with her husband. Pausing only to wish the armadillo a good night, the guardian slipped out the van and turned, counting to ten under her breath slowly and watching until the taillights of the Chaotix workhorse were receding into the distance before striding slowly away into the wilderness that she'd made her adoptive home. Mind churning even if she was, or at least thought she was, starting to head towards some kind of conclusion and plan for the way forwards, Rouge nevertheless kept her stride slow and purposeful, the chill of the evening helping cool the frenzied fire raging in her head, helping to mould the fragments of ideas and motes of inspiration into a collective scheme greater than the sum of its parts, something that would help pull her team of co-workers and quasi-family from the mire they'd become bogged down in.

Therefore, when both arrived home, their actions and subsequent receptions could not have been much more different; Mighty, having kicked off her shoes carelessly, simply stormed upstairs, not even registering the desultory greetings issued from the vague directions of the lounge as she threw open her bedroom door, collapsing onto bed and grateful only when she belatedly realised that she was alone in the dual room; obviously Esprana was away somewhere. Rolling up in her covers, not even bothering to undress in her haste to get somewhere warm and comfortable where she could block out the world, the armadillo was dimly aware that she really ought to warn someone that their charade was on the verge of being discovered, that people were starting to suspect something like the truth, but she was too tired, too strung out and simply too miserable to care any more. Head on the pillow, the armadillo let her eyes fall shut and willed sleep to take her away from the nightmare she inhabited; perhaps mercifully, her dreams this time were fast in answering her plea.

XXX

"You're back a bit late", Knuckles spoke as soon as he heard the front door bang shut, followed almost immediately by the typical clopping noise Rouge made when she was banging out her boots, "anything happen, and how're Julie and Shads?"

"They're both fine", his wifes' disembodied voice filtered back to him, though even as he listened he detected an undercurrent of foreboding and instantly switched himself on, looking to the door and seeing, as it swung open, the fretting expression on the bat's face, "but, and I really hope I'm wrong here, I don't think someone else is quite as okay". _I think I can guess who you're on about_;

"Mighty, the Chaotix", as Rouge's head snapped up, shocked that he'd managed to second-guess her, the guardian felt himself smile, the expression rueful as he realised that though he'd managed to pull a fast one over his wife, the sore nature of the topic meant he couldn't decently crow about his victory, "yeah, I noticed they've not quite been themselves recently".

"You noticed?" Suddenly realised quite how insensitive that comment had been by the hurt expression Knuckles sent her way, the bat threw off her shock and tried to make amends, "Sorry, I mean you've seen them..." The echidna cut her off with a raised hand,

"Of course I have; come on, it's not that easy to miss if you think about it – Charmy's not been at the races for weeks now, I've woken Mighty up in the shrine at least twice and Esps' throat isn't improving at all, if anything in fact it's getting worse", he broke off his monologue to sigh, "something's not right batgirl, but I don't know how to even start to find out how. You have any luck?"

"What makes you think I asked? Oh", the basilisk gaze he sent her way answered that question better than any words ever could, "in short no, but I know you're right Knucks, something's really up with them all, and I'm going to find out what".

The echidna glanced up sharply; that was a tone he recognised all too well; _yeah, last time I heard it there was something about owning the Master Emerald if I remember rightly_; however, though he knew it was unlikely to happen, he felt he ought to at least try to talk his impetuous wife down somewhat,

"You really think you ought to? I mean", he hastily tried to explain himself as Rouge shot him an imperious glance, "you don't think it'll..."

"Even itself out over time", the bat finished for him, an ugly expression besmirching her usually attractive face as she shook her head, "no I don't and neither do you"; _true enough_; the echidna conceded the point before, realising he couldn't stop Rouge from pursuing her decision, tried instead to second-guess her intentions,

"Reckon you might need a hand?" As he'd expected, she shook her head,

"Nope, not this time Knucks; I tried with Might earlier but got no joy and it's carrots to crests she'll have tipped the others off by now, so not meaning to be rude but you asking's just going to be tipping oil on the fire. Leave this one to me – I'll get the answers, you can lend a hand in the aftermath". The echidna grinned, standing up from where he'd been perched on the end of the bed and placed his hands on his brides' shoulders, looking in her eyes and relieved in himself when he fancied he could see them both start to sparkle again,

"That's where I do my best work babe; okay, I'll leave that one to you. Anyway", as she looked directly at him, lips pursed into a smile as she anticipated his next question; _hmm, how hard should I get him to work for his answer?_; "leaving that issue aside for a minute, what else happened tonight – come on", he put a bit of a whining plea in his voice as Rouge turned her head away, playing hard to get in the face of his questions, "gimme some of the gossip at least".

"I would do, if there was anything much worth telling", she nettled teasingly, the tone of her voice completely belying her words and letting the echidna know in no uncertain terms that plenty had happened he ought to know about, "but no, just a bit of a girly night in really..."

"Rouge..."

"...Just had a bit of a sit-down, bit of a chinwag and that was all – oh, I did meet Nesi though..."

"...Roo-ouge..."

"...now she's a bit of a one that girl; bit older than Julie by a couple of years, great fun though, and by the sounds of it so's her other ha-aahhhh!"

At that point Knuckles' patience finally ran out; stepping closer to his wife suddenly, the guardian snapped his arms shut around her in a crushing bear-hug before launching himself backwards, twisting so Rouge was underneath him. She squealed in shock before the impact squashed the air out of her, though the thick blanket of the bed they shared cushioned her fall somewhat before Knuckles landed on top of her, pinning her to the mattress. She squirmed gamely in his arms but wasn't able to do all that much; using the advantage of surprise he'd locked her arms to the side of her body and of course she couldn't do much kicking while she was prone like this. Snarling she looked up into the face of her gaoler, Knuckles with a roguish glint in his eyes as he smirked casually,

"Care to start talking yet batgirl? Or do I have to...convince you?" His tone made her quit struggling for a second as though weighing up her options; eventually she began to relax a little, though Knuckles didn't let her go; _damn_; remembering a few times in the past where she'd been able to get away by playing possum, the bat was reluctantly forced to cross that strategy off the list. Realising that she was pretty well wrapped up this time, Rouge decided that even if she couldn't win, she could at least delay Knuckles his victory as long as possible,

"You can try Knucklehead", even before she finished she felt him start to try, his lips caressing around her neck slowly, sensuously, making her gasp out the last of her words even as her legs encircled his waist, "you're, gonna have to...try..."

A/N: Try he will I've no doubt, but what of Rouge's self-appointed task? Can someone even as subtle and sneaky as she succeed against such a silent conspiracy as the Chaotix have created around themselves? And even if she can, will she be able to pierce the black heart of the mystery and prevent its fallout souring her and her husband's long-awaited reunions with the friends from the lands below? Find out next chapter.


	15. Chapter 15 The Darkness of Men

Chapter 15 – The Darkness of Men.

A/N: Time is not on my side at the moment I fear; not only do I not get a lot of time to myself as it is, I also seem to find that what few precious moments I do get are snaffled up by this, that and the other – argh, it frustrates me, when all I want to do is write more and do my audience justice. Speaking of whom, however, words and thanks as always to those who review my words:

Ri2 - Shadow's not evil per se, just a guy who can use his (admittedly dark and at times even deranged) imagination to full and hilarious effect when he has a mind to. And I agree; Mighty never got to see such a devious prank put into effect - such a pity...

SM - Blooper taken on board, sorry about that, though I am glad you enjoyed the now-infamous 'Shadow-revenge' scene; I always like describing those two housemates falling out and then, eventually, making up again. As for the old saying, it's a spin of the saying 'I'll bet you a pound to a pinch of mud...'; basically meaning I'm so confident that something will happen I'll bet something valuable that it will - in my world a crest is the echidnean currency and a therefore worth a lot more than a carrot. Hope that clears up any confusion, though please let me know if there are other turns of phrase you come across you're not too sure of.

Out of context and completely out of character, Mighty said nothing as she slowly opened the front door and stepped over the threshold; pausing only to kick off her shoes haphazardly, the newest member of the Chaotix clomped heavily up the stairs, pushed open her bedroom door and collapsed onto the closest bed – temporarily forgetting it was her and Espios' turn to change bedclothes, she simply yanked her naked duvet up and over her head as she curled into a ball, shivering even as her eyes closed and she tried to fall into restful, healing sleep. It was nothing she could do to control, there was nothing she could even think to do to try and stop or even delay her actions, but the fact that this time she did nothing but sate her irresistible cravings for slumber meant that, when she awoke next morning almost as tired as she remembered being when she eventually drifted off, the warning that she'd meant to deliver to the rest of the Chaotix regarding at least one of the guardians was sniffing close to the trail they'd been trying to cover, had been completely forgotten under a blanket of impenetrable mnemonic fug.

XXX

Equally unusually, especially compared to the his normally inquisitive mind and sharp eye for the details, Vector also seemed to be afflicted with selective amnesia when the morning dawned; rather than ask for all the gory details of the night before, the crocodile simply sat silent at the table as the armadillo slouched into the room, pausing only to nod in his general direction before sorting out something like breakfast. For his part the sometime-leader of the former detective team simply reflected the radiated apathy without interest or intent to change either his or Mighty's attitude; in conjunction with the rest of his team, the crocodile seemed to have devolved into two separate beings and attitudes. The first, the one currently on display at the minute, was a barely-functioning non-entity; all this Vector seemed able to do was breathe, observe and think up vaguely coherent thoughts regarding plans in the immediate short-term, while the other was what might have been considered the 'normal' Vector everyone was familiar with, a canny, concise operator with a sly wit and biting sarcasm, seemingly almost clairvoyant as he scryed the future to see the best way to use all the resources at his disposal, including the other members of his team, to get the job done.

Unfortunately now it seemed to be almost exhausting for the crocodile to maintain his facade of unruffled normality; the emotional trauma and upheaval he'd been forced to ride out was finally boiling up and over his psyche, smothering all before it and subsuming more and more of his time and energy. The only times now Vector seemed able to muster enough of his sluggish strength to put on the mask the world was familiar with was when in the company of others outside the Chaotix or, more importantly, whenever the one who'd done more than any others to instigate this evil sundering in his soul was present around him. At some basic level the crocodile knew, in fact more than that, he was certain that he had to make sure Esprana was protected; after all she had gone through, he and the others had to make sure the chameleon had enough time and space to heal in, to grow in and, most importantly now, to find out who she was in; _and if that means we have to suffer for it_; the words echoed in his heads dully like a scream down an old, abandoned well, bouncing off cold stone to linger forever in the eternal night below the earth as he sat immobile in his chair, the world flowing over his body as he failed completely to interact with it – he simply did not care for it anymore; _then suffer we will, in silence as well to make sure she never hears and feels the pain for it._ Even as the noble thought finished in his mind, however, the crocodile felt a sickening dread start to seep upwards in his throat as he heard the sound of another Mobian coming towards the pair of them; it was the very last thing he wanted to do but, somehow, he reached deep down into himself and dragged his normal personality kicking and screaming into the light, trying and just about succeeding to submerge the mental agony such an action generated in his stressed mental state as the kitchen door opened again,

"'Ey Esp", his voice conveyed none of the listless fatigue threatening the rest of his mind as he looked over at the chameleon, "goin' okay, an' where you been all mornin'?"

"Just nipped out", the other reptile answered curtly before her eyes alighted on Mighty, the armadillo also smiling, keeping up the act of normality despite suffering at least as badly as Vector was inside her skull, "anyway, I've made your bed Might; must have been one hell of a party last night". The chameleon chuckled at her own joke and, once her sore, befuddled brain had realised exactly what she was on about, Mighty mimicked her action, speaking even as she tried to accurately remember what had gone on the previous evening,

"Yeah, great party, just wish I could remember more of it", she grumbled, rubbing her brow in exaggeration of the headache that was rumbling away under her shell, "hopefully it'll come to me while I'm at the shrine; it better do at least, if nothing else I'm sure Knuckles'll be sniffing around for some info – I'm pretty sure Rouge won't have told him the whole story of what happened, even if I can't quite remember why". The armadillo grinned foppishly at her own joke, but the expression quickly withered away as she glanced up in time to see Esprana scrutinising her face more closely, something very close to concern creeping over the reptile's normally unreadable face,

"Umm, sorry if this is a bit bald Might but I really don't think you should take on first shift; you look like hell and you've got eyes like worm-holes in snow. No, sorry", she clapped her hands officially, her tone taking on an edge of deadly seriousness, "you're ill and therefore off-duty – I'm taking over for a day. Get yourself to bed for at least a few more hours, the more the better in fact. I'll just get a quick bite and report for duty".

"But..."

"No", the chameleon deflected the fledgling argument with both her voice and a flick of her finger, waving the stubborn armadillo towards the hallway, "believe me I've got this one; in fact Vec", the crocodile started at the unexpected mention of his name, just about pulling himself away from the fringes of a comforting stupor in time to look attentive, "chalk it up on the list, I've got Mighty's next shift; once it goes on there it's completely official and that's an end to it, am I right?"

"Err", caught off-balance and trying to come up with an answer that wouldn't leave him looking completely brain-dead, the crocodile managed to nod and summon up his best imperious sort of expression, "yep, 'it the nail dead centre there Esp; can't change it once it's stuck t'the fridge door. Any'ow", his tone dropped a little, concern evident in his voice as he nodded towards where Mighty stood frozen, two slices of bread still folded limply over her fingers ass he hadn't yet managed to place them in the toaster, "in this case Esp an' I are singin' off th'same 'ymn sheet; y'look absolutely shattered Might an' goin' t'work ain't gunna 'elp ya – put yer feet up fer'a bit, let someone 'ealthy do th' runnin' fer'a change".

_Don't argue_; mentally he implored his teammate as the last thing he wanted this early in the morning was a scene – as he saw Mighty open her mouth though he felt a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach vortex everything meaningful in his life back down to the soles of his boots and he found himself having to fight to stop himself crying over something even this stupid. It seemed anything could potentially rupture the eggshell-thin barrier that held it all at the back of his mind, but it had to hold; especially now, now when if the dam did break, there was a chance it would drown the very person he and the rest of the Chaotix were trying to save. Fortunately, and this was purely due to fortune he was sure as there was no way Mighty would have been able to read of his inner turmoil on his face, the armadillo seemed to decide to back down this time, all the potential fight slipping out of even her unbreakable grasp as she shrugged in defeat,

"Yeah, I guess you're right Esp", she broke off to yawn, the expression only making the chameleon shake her head with a smile, "I'm not quite my best".

"You can say that again; now, bed, you shouldn't go to sleep on a full stomach, it'll give you nightmares. Put the bread down; treat yourself a proper brunch later on".

"I might just do that you know", lifting the lid off the bread bin again, Mighty dropped her former breakfast back with the rest of the opened loaf before dropping the plastic top back into place, "thanks Esprana, can't say I'm not grateful". The chameleon shook her head again, holding up a hand as though trying to waft away the praise,

"Come on, one shift? How many did you lot stump up when I went off the rails – this is nothing".

"Dun' do yerself down"; _huh, oh yeah_; up until the point he'd actually spoken again Esprana had almost forgotten Vector was in the room at all; _sometimes I swear he blends into the background better than I do_; "S'a good thing yer doin', jus' keep it up an' this 'ole thing'll go down smooth as".

"We can only hope", Mighty added, yawning again as she moved towards the door with a heavy, clumping tread, "take it from me though, I'm going to slip between those sheets smooth as, and once I'm gone don't even try to get me up this side of midday". Vector chuckled, the sound, he fancied, echoing around in the hollow expanse of his spirit even as it tempted a smile out of both his female teammates,

"No fear o'that Might – I'll let buzz-boy know when 'e gets back; comic store", he explained briefly before flapping his hands towards the exit, "still pair o'ya, get where yer goin'; we're all nearly late an' Knucks ain't gonna be 'appy if that glowy green gem o' his 'asn't got someone sittin' on it in the next five minutes".

It was a valid point and, more importantly, it was a prudent one that managed to clear the kitchen; within a minute or two Vector was left with just himself for comfort. In this solitude, and only then when he was certain Mighty wouldn't hear him from the top of the stairs, did he finally allow his mask to slip to the floor and crumple to nothingness. As the sickness that had infected him ever since Christmas and only been amplified by further inoculations following the chameleons' mind-shattering confession and the whole team having to live with the aftermath roiled around in his stomach and his soul, Vector let his head fall into his hands and wept bitter tears, releasing the barest fraction of his torment at the same time as raging at himself for not being strong enough to withstand the assault from within; _if Esp was to walk back in now..._

The thought only made him cry all the harder and he was powerless to prevent such a painful river leaking into his eyes.

XXX

As she blinked her vision clear and fought down the slight lurch of nausea that always assailed her following a trip on the teleportation pad, Esprana hopped down to the floor with, rather than her usual cat-like grace, a heavy thump that seemed to mimic the immediate collapse of her spirits.

_It's getting worse, they're getting worse_; newly-found concern swirled like cold water in her belly, spreading across her whole frame like a plague of cold rot as she gnawed her lower lip, thinking hard; _they just can't hide it as well._ That much she knew for a fact; she was not so disingenuous not to recognise the signs that the others in the Chaotix had, to a Mobian, steeled up and tried not to let the aftermath of both her arrogance and subsequent crushing despair show on their faces around her, and they were treating Esprana so much more delicately than they ever had Espio, but was that a good or a bad thing now? Trying to kid on they were all okay, it was a noble, self-sacrificing gesture and she respected it as such, but to come to this, the point where holding in what they knew now was actually hurting them, not just in their emotions but impacting detrimentally on their physical performance; it was a knife that, having lodged in the heart she'd spent most of her life trying to protect, was now being slowly, tortuously twisted every time she saw the others unguarded, the infinitesimal seconds before they were aware she was present and could therefore engage their normal mental shields. _Every single one of them is suffering_; head and eyes downcast, the chameleon trudged towards her workplace, mind heavy not just with her own burden, but also the knowledge that she was responsible for heaping similar titanic problems onto the shoulders of others; _and the worst thing of all – I could end it, I could make all of this stop_.

In theory she could at least; a few simple words of explanation, a final revelation would be enough to ultimately end the charade in its entirety. Confessing to someone, in fact almost anyone else who knew her would be enough to shatter the myth of Espio Chameleon forever, but she couldn't do it. She had tried, tried several times in fact, to shift the awful weight from her shoulders, her course steeled with the knowledge that by doing so she'd be easing the minds of the rest of the Chaotix into the bargain, but every time the words came to her, somehow they died on her lips. Visions of her again, helpless, sundered on the cold floor flooded through her mind, dangerous and contaminated phantoms of what had been enough to chill whatever fire she managed to pump into her blood, turn her away again. What would happen if she did reveal herself – the great unknown that she stood on the precipice of but was afraid to leap into; would the others listen, or would they laugh, thinking she was having a joke of some kind? Esprana didn't think she'd be able to bear the latter but, at the same time, the realisation that the former was only marginally less frightening made her smile grimly – it was an abyss under her feet, and sooner or later; _I will_; it was a certainty – the fact that she held the key to the dolorous prison her friends had willingly incarcerated themselves in would force her hand eventually, the sooner the better as far as she was concerned; _I'll tell everyone else, I have to. It's just a case of waiting for the oppor...oh!_

It was only at that point, by now halfway towards the steps at the foot of the Master Emeralds' pedestal, that Esprana realised there was someone else in the shrine a split-second before she walked into them; back-pedalling suddenly, the reptile hastily tried to think up answers to potentially awkward questions as she saw the guardian look over her shoulder, regarding her quizzically.

XXX

"Are you sure you can handle this? I mean", just the look his wife had sent his way made Knuckles quickly reconsider his unwise choice of words, "you're sure you don't want me or anyone else, on hand – emotional support if you like?" _Just a second longer_; Rouge kept up her evil eye for long enough to get Knuckles uncomfortably warm under the collar before switching the deadly glare off, smiling as she shook her head and patted herself down, a swift check to make sure everything she needed was in easy reach whether on land or winging through the air,

"Nah, not this time Knucks – nothing personal but I really think this is something I'm better suited to; as long as I can pick the minute I reckon I'll be able to get to the bottom of this".

"I hope so", Knuckles exclaimed, leaning against the doorframe of their shared home as he ruminated on the Chaotix conundrum himself for a minute, "I'm starting to get a bit worried myself. Anyway, I'll leave the spy to her undercover work", he inclined his head slightly as the bat favoured him with a long-suffering look, though if he looked hard enough he fancied there was a trace of amusement lurking just beneath such an expression, "good luck babe; don't take this the wrong way but I hope you don't need it". Rouge nodded, spreading her wings and hopping into the sky, her extra limbs lashing the air to propel her upwards as she answered,

"With any luck", she called back as she swooped away, heading towards the shrine she now knew at least as well as her husband did, "I won't – see you later". Knuckles waved for a minute until his partner was little more than a receding speck in the distance, then heaved a sign himself as his earlier words returned to haunt him somewhat; _go for it Rouge – Master knows we need someone to figure what's going on out, and I know for a fact there's no-one better at it than you_.

The memory of her morning abruptly left the bat as she suddenly found herself cursing that self-same luck under her breath; Mighty she'd have considered having a crack at despite their, if not harsh, certainly guarded parting words the previous night, but seeing Espio here completely threw her schemes to ruin. Out of all the Chaotix the chameleon was the one she'd been hoping to avoid; not only was he surly and often outright abrasive, he was also, the bat had to concede grudgingly, smart enough in his own right to probe a little deeper into any seemingly innocuous questions she might employ to glean information about the Chaotix as a whole; _and for someone naturally paranoid as he is_; Rouge bit back a frown as her pessimistic thought finished; _it's a short stop from questions to suspicions, and from there he'd be bound to warn the others_.

"Rouge", his familiar, gravelly grate rumbled over her thoughts like a body being dragged over gravel, "what are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same question", the former government agent replied, inwardly cursing the second she said it; _don't bait him – just because we don't get on at all doesn't mean I lose sight of the goal to needle him_; "I was hoping to see Mighty". The chameleon shrugged, the gesture she always associated with him – Espio never seemed to care enough about anything to do much more than that,

"If you're after her you're out of luck"; _as if I didn't know that already_; once more Rouge kept her face neutral, not letting the ninja see the dire thoughts bubbling away in the back of her mind, "she's not in today, not all that well. I thought it might be something to do with that party you all attended last night, but you seemed to have pulled through it pretty unscathed".

At first the bat was certain this was yet another of his sly digs at her; she prepared to reply in kind when she noticed the chameleon's expression and posture for the first time; _that's a bit unusual_. Rather than his superior smirk, he seemed...well, to her eyes at least he seemed almost normal, perhaps even pleasant – maybe he had simply meant that remark to be taken at face value. With a split-second to make her decision as she knew that prolonging the silence would only sour the chameleons' mood, Rouge decided to take a gamble and go against the grain this time,

"Thanks, though I have to say we didn't get up to much", she explained, discreetly declining to mention the horrific embarrassments Shadow had heaped on her head as she trusted he probably already knew them; far gone she might have been but there was no way even Mighty would have let a chance like that slide, surely? "It was a good night, but I have to say she looked rough even then". Espio nodded,

"It's been coming as far as I can tell"; _this was weird to start with_; Rouge found herself having to fight harder than she'd have liked to keep the disbelief both out of her voice and off her face; _but now it's turning surreal – Esp, giving a damn?_ "she's been tired and lethargic almost since she came back – something must have gotten hold of her while she was still jet-lagged, I've heard that can make you more susceptible to diseases".

"Thank God I wouldn't know; I don't tend to get lagged when I've been flying long-distance", the bat explained, her mind racing ahead and trying to think up a impromptu plan on the hoof – her instinct was telling her in no uncertain terms Espio wasn't the key she needed to unlock this strange puzzle, but maybe he could be of some use to lay the groundwork for her investigations if she played her cards right, "anyway, actually...", she let the words drawl off into nothingness teasingly, a verbal lure that did, she was relieved to see, draw her quarry in a little, "...now I think about it, you might be able to sort this out with me, perhaps a bit better than Mighty could even".

XXX

_Really?_; as half her mind tried to second-guess the kind of work the bat had in mind, the other half of Esprana's thoughts were focussed on maximising the time she spent with the bat; Rouge had been one of the Mobians she'd treated the worst in the past, now she wanted to make amends for that as much as she was could as Espio, prior to her finally shedding her old identity for good, letting it slough away like old, useless skin. It was a ticklish balance to try and strike; trying to help at the same time as conform to her old ways of generally being a pain in the neck, but overall she reckoned she was just about getting it right; _if only the same could be said about coming clean at last_.

"Sort what out – you know I really shouldn't leave the shrine?"

"Of course I know", Rouge replied lazily, wafting a hand as though the question was an annoying swarm of midges she could swat away, "the shrine, or the roof of the shrine if you want to get technical, is the problem. Knuckles wants to check the repairs we got sorted over the summer haven't been cracked or iced up yet – personally I don't think there'll be anything there to see, but if it puts his mind at rest..."

"...It makes all our lives easier", Esprana finished for her, craning her neck upwards to try and scrutinise the shadow-shrouded roof of the Master Emerald's resting place. Both women stood in silence for a minute as though sizing up the problem before the chameleon spoke again,

"I take it you needed Mighty to get a boost up there?" _Smart man_; contrary to popular belief Rouge did respect the chameleon for his training and his skills – the fact she didn't like him at all personally didn't and in all probability wouldn't alter that state of affairs,

"If at all possible", the bat confirmed before sighing, hands folded across her chest, "still, if you're available, you can probably climb better than I can and we'll be able to scour this thing in, what, an hour tops?" The ninja chuckled in his throat, the noise almost turning Rouge's head in amazement; _since when did he ever start laughing at anything, especially things that aren't jokes?_;

"Hopefully that, but you've made one mistake in your planning Rouge; because of that I'm afraid I'm about as much use as a bikini in the Arctic".

"Okay", the bat said soberly a second later, already cursing herself for getting suckered in by the chameleons' uncharacteristic chivalry; at heart he was always ready to pounce on any flaw, any slight oversight he could pick up on, "what's the problem?" Espio chuckled again, the noise setting her teeth on edge as he looked her way, glancing up at the roof again,

"Ninjitsu teaches many things to do with the darkness Rouge, but not even its most hallowed secrets tell you how to pierce the shield around you", as she tried to figure out the mystical gobbledegook he spoke again, this time no obfuscation in his words, "not even you'll be able to see anything up there, we'll need a torch".

No denying it; that had been a complete foul-up on her part – just this once Espio's criticism was fully justified. Rouge mentally shook herself down, trying to figure out a way to stem the damage before it completely flooded the engine room of her potential idea and the opportunity to scout the territory she wanted to explore out a little sank without trace,

"Oh for, I knew I forgot something", she tutted, outwardly furious with herself and letting Espio know it, hopefully preventing him from sticking the knife in again. She daren't look over at him for fear his supercilious smirk drove her up the wall even faster than Mighty could have thrown her, and because of that his next words caught her completely slack-jawed,

"Not an issue, I should have an old head-torch at home somewhere", pivoting slowly on the spot, mouth all but hanging open, the very small part of Rouge's mind that hadn't blown a fuse by the fact Espio of all Mobians was offering an act of charity rather than sticking the boot into someone who'd already been done down was eternally grateful that he was still looking up at the ceiling, giving her a chance to recover; by the time he looked around again her professionalism had taken over and she was purely business again, "wait a few minutes here while I get it?"

"Uh, sure", the guardian shrugged as though this was something she'd been expecting, "no point trying to make a start without something to see by – not even sonar's going to help when you need to scan a brick wall". Espio didn't answer this, merely turning on his heel and jogging towards the teleporter again, most likely trying to work out the most likely location of the tool he now needed and therefore not hearing the slight thump from behind him as Rouge flopped down on the steps behind her, not able to tear her eyes from his retreating back as she waited for the shock to abate somewhat.

_Please tell me that didn't actually happen_; it was only when she actually got around to replying the most recent exchange she'd had with the most outwardly hostile and belligerent member of the Chaotix that she changed her previous tune; _in fact, scratch that – I'm just grateful it did_. That much was certainly true, but at the same time, why had it happened; what had changed with Espio so much in the recent past because, now she thought about it more, Rouge thought she could start to see the beginning of something, the first few steps of a complicated dance routine starting to pan out in front of her. Espio had been a lot less quarrelsome recently; _actually, I can't remember the last time he and I really went for one-another hammer and tongs – now that's certainly odd_; so what could be causing that? Turning it over in her mind Rouge was tempted by a logical solution, the fact that the rest of his team seemed to be dropping like flies meant that the ninja was finally starting to learn something about humility and kindness, but something deep inside her insisted that this was more likely to be a part of the solution rather than its entirety.

She'd have liked to probe deeper, try to see what else she could unearth and the chances were if it had been anyone else she'd have fancied her chances, but with Espio she just didn't trust herself enough; he was enough of an enigma to dissuade her from chancing her arm – for all she knew, he could just turn and revert to his normal, unpleasant type if she put a toe out of a line she just couldn't see clearly enough. _Not worth the risk_; her decision made, the bat shook her head before thinking again, slightly more optimistic now; _still, as far as I'm concerned if he is starting to fill with the milk of Mobian kindness, that was a damn opportune moment for him to squeeze out a few drops!_

XXX

_I can't tell her_; even though she knew it might just bring the misery to an end, Esprana knew in her very heart of hearts that if she was to break her suffering silence, it couldn't be to the bat; _there's just too much water under the bridge between us to make it possible_._ Still_; just because she couldn't settle her main score didn't mean there weren't a few other, more minor matters she could start to deal with, her attitude being the main one. As she scrabbled around the small chest of drawers quietly in the dark, trying not to wake Mighty who was still out cold in their room, for the elusive little torch she knew she'd stashed in there, the chameleon had to smirk a little, privately, at the look of shock that had affixed itself to Rouge's face just after she'd mentioned them needing a light source to get the job done. Such an expression would linger long in her memory, the chameleon was sure of that – despite Espio's many and varied attempts at trying, she was sure he'd never been able to catch the former spy out quite that badly before. It was such a delicious image, and in all honesty such an innocent one as well, that only the feeling of a thin ribbon of material catching around her wrist jerked the chameleon back to the land of the living; hastily pulling her hand free with the head-torch swaying, she stood up, pushed the drawer back into place with her foot and headed back downstairs.

By nothing more than good fortune was the staircase down to the Chaotix basement before the kitchen door, so there was no reason for the chameleon to duck inside – had she done so, it was entirely possible the sight of Vector sat slumped in one of the chairs there, eyes still bloodshot-red and a sodden dishcloth in his hand, would have ruptured her good mood permanently.

XXX

A short time later, hanging off the roof of the shrine itself and scanning for anything amiss, the chameleon glanced over to the right at Rouge's call of,

"Light". The beam emanating from the small pane of glass she'd wrapped around her head and the base of her frill shot across the pitch-black ceiling, stopping only when it touched the white of the bat's glove; it roved around there for a few seconds, mimicking the tiny manipulations of its owner's neck and shoulders, until the guardian nodded to herself and dismissed it,

"Yep, not a problem, cracks are still full here; this should be good until at least next year".

"I hope so", Esprana called back, eyes once more set forwards and trying to pick out anything wrong in the structure she was clinging to, "if I remember rightly I did most of the filling up here; that was not fun".

"You got that right", odd as it felt to agree with the chameleon, this time the bat felt she had no choice; _that plaster dust gets everywhere, and even when you have shower it sticks like glue – lucky for you that doesn't really come into play on scales_; "still, looks like the job's a good one here – oh that's enough", unfurling her wings, Rouge simply let go of the ceiling and plummeted towards the floor, flaring out her flight appendages to break her fall until the comforting feel of the stone floor was once more beneath her boot soles, "come down Esp; twenty minutes of crawling up there and hanging on by your fingertips is more than enough". Looking upwards as much as the glow of the Master Emerald would penetrate the pervading gloom, the ex-spy found herself having to rely more on her ears than anything else as it was too dark to see the chameleon move at all; _and anyway_; the realisation struck her that it was probably a wasted effort anyway; _he'll be invisible by now due to the fact there's no light_. Still, just because she couldn't see him didn't mean she didn't know where he was; to ears as sensitive and sharp as hers, the sound of the ninjas' scales scraping over the brickwork was like sandpaper machine working on overtime; doing her best to home in on the noise, Rouge allowed herself a small flush of pride when she picked out Espio's downward course just short of halfway up the wall, a deeper shade moving amid the shadow.

In the next second she found herself hopping backwards; the ninja, obviously deciding the distance was safe, simply pushed off and flipped away from the wall, twisting expertly in the air to land almost soundlessly a couple of feet in front of her; despite herself, Rouge raised her eyebrows in appreciation – that wasn't a move just anyone could have pulled out their hat. Standing upright again and dusting himself off, the chameleon looked over at her and nodded,

"Think you might be right, there's nothing going on up there, just as well", he steepled his fingers under his chin, looking as pensive as always, "though I think we might have been lucky; the winter's been mild enough to stop the worst of the freeze-thaw, especially compared to last year, that was snowy". The bat nodded again; _damn, has this actually happened – nearly an hour with Espio and we haven't crossed swords once?_;

"You bet it was, and that was for us warm-bloods – you and Vec had it worse I'd imagine?"

"You'd imagine right", he answered succinctly, shivering even at the mere memory, "I was a hairs-breadth from hibernation a couple of times last year; if ever I meet the man who invented the hot-water bottle I owe him a round or two, though of course", he suddenly rounded on her, his smile if not malicious then certainly edged with a nettling leer, "you've got something better to keep you warm at night now".

Normally comments such as that rolled off Rouge like water from a ducks' back; however, the fact that such an innuendo had issued from Espio was a curve-ball that threw her completely for a loop – it was all she could do keep herself from blushing. Despite a last-minute fight back, however, such an attempt was always doomed to end in failure and she turned away, searching desperately for a suitably scathing comeback as the ninja glimpsed the damage he'd done and pushed on,

"I mean having lived outside most of his life, I bet Knuckles is a electric blanket in his own right", the chameleon spoke almost conversationally, though she always had one eye on where Rouge was cringing away merrily; _sorry batgirl but this is just too good to miss_; "and from what I've heard from the others, if you ever do get a bit of a chill it doesn't take much for him to get the sparks fly..."

"Thank you Espio", Rouge rallied enough to render the rest of the chameleons' words void through dint of volume, "I don't need you to give me an overview of my love-life; Charmy alone handles that job, and that's before Vector gets in on the act". At her expression Esprana found herself chuckling a touch, the sound a lot less forced and, she was pleased to not, a lot more natural sounding than before,

"Now that I do believe, I've lived with them long enough..." She tailed off in mid-sentence, not liking the sudden look of calculation Rouge was sending her way. Before she could question it though, the bat had spoken,

"Actually, yes what you've said's true, you've lived with them longer than anyone, so answer me this", she leant forwards, obviously desperate to be let in on a secret, "how does Mighty make sure they keep their mouths shut – I've never heard them take the mick out of her and Big like they do with me and my other half".

"Yeah but she's bigger than you", Esprana held her arms out of her sides, imitating a gorilla, "and she lives in the same house; nowhere for them to run, or fly in Charms' case, if they go too far; don't kid yourself they've done it before, and the mess afterwards was less than pleasant". Rouge smiled,

"I guessed as much, though speaking of Big, haven't heard from him in a while – he and Might are still in touch right?"

XXX

_Come on, just answer me this and I swear I'll be happy_; though she'd never intended to question Espio at all, his uncharacteristically laid-back attitude for the day had prompted her to dare to take a gamble – Mighty may have told her that all was well the previous night, but the idea had nagged away at the back of Rouges' mind and she knew it wouldn't rest until she got some proper confirmation that nothing had upset that particular boat. To her relief however, though she was careful to keep her expression merely enquiring rather than outright desperate to know, the chameleon merely looked over at her with non-existent eyebrows raised as he answered slowly,

"Yes, of course they are; why, did you think they'd broken off or something?"

"No, no", Rouge assured him fussily, hoping her tone of exasperation would be enough to cover the deep sigh of outright thankfulness that had been blown out with it, "she just hasn't mentioned him much recently and you know what she's like; normally the big purple guy's the one topic you can't get her off of". Espio seemed to ruminate on this for a second before nodding, standing with his weight casually on his back foot and a fist propping up his chin,

"Well she's not that bad at home usually, just as well or I'd have throttled her in her sleep by now, but as far as I can tell everything's plain sailing between the two of them, same as always really. That said", a heavier tone infused his voice, putting Rouge on the defensive; _questions ahoy, brace for impact_; "a letter is overdue I guess, I'll give her a prod when I get back, and when she's feeling well enough to write legibly again".

"Fair enough, just make sure she's back on her feet properly before sending her back this way – last thing I need right now's another damned bug, especially with you-know-who due up here a week today". Esprana crossed her eyes a minute, trying to remember the very rudiments of the guardians' social calendar before the answer came to her in a stroke of genius; _of course – who else could ruffled the feathers of the normally unflappable Rouge quite that well?_;

"Heh, I'd almost forgotten about that", she grinned wickedly, Rouge scowling at her expression of vindictive glee at the same time as wipe the proverbial sweat from her brow that she'd dodged another bullet, or to be more accurate, the shot she'd been expecting Espio had never fired across her bows, "looking forwards to it are you batgirl?"

"Do turkeys look forwards to Christmas? Well, maybe that's pushing it a bit far", despite her and Sonic's well-documented antipathy towards one-another, deep down Rouge suspected everyone knew, as she herself did, that if either she or Sonic was in a tight spot they could have confidently relied on the other to come charging to the rescue, "put it like this – I'm grateful we're going to be spending a lot of time with Lara, all four of us that is; not even spiky would risk getting up to his old tricks with her as far gone as she is, to say nothing of the fact she doesn't half dish out a decent slap upside the head if she thinks you've earnt it". As the guardian rubbed between her ears at a memory Esprana didn't even want to guess at, the chameleon snickered quietly to herself before deciding that, nice as it had been to stand around and chat, right now she really wanted a little peace and quiet to think in,

"I don't doubt it, not that she'd ever catch me if I didn't want to get caught", she added with a touch of pride, Rouge folding her arms dramatically at her declaration before listening in to the rest of the Chaotixs' statement, "still, that's for you later in the week; as things stand I reckon we're pretty well finished here. Go let Knuckles know he's got nothing to worry about as far as this old shack's concerned, put his mind at rest on that at least – then you can go back to plotting ways of tripping Sonic up while he's on the island".

"As if I would, well", after acting innocent for a minute Rouge allowed an oily smirk to crawl across her face, "if he was near the edge and going full whack then maybe, but otherwise nah, that'd just be petty", glancing across the bat once more found herself having to fight down something close to shock; rather than look away in disgust at what he perceived to be an ill-tasting remark, Espio remained where he was with even the trace of a slight smile on his lips; _did he just actually take a joke?_; "still, guess you're right. Wish the others well for me when you get back, and oh", leaning forwards, the bat whispered a secret she'd discovered in the summer to the chameleon, "I know Mighty hates those cold-and-flu drinks you can get; I do too, they're sour as anything; but if you want to get some medicine down her just mix one in with a bitterroot soup; it masks the taste no end".

"Didn't think you liked bitterroot either?"

"I don't but this was Knuckles spoon-feeding me; you really think I had a choice", the former spy declared before turning about, towards the shrine exit, "see you around Espio, and I really hope Might gets well".

"She will", the chameleon called back, her last words directed almost as much to herself as to the bat's retreating back, "like Wyn told me once, time heals all in time"; _that it might do, but if it does_; heading back up the steps towards the Master Emerald itself, Esprana paused only to gaze into the depths of the ageless, timeless gemstone for a moment before dropping her eyes, the answer she so desperately sought not present in those rotating depths; _I just wish it would hurry up and get it done a bit faster_.

XXX

As the bus pulled up at her regular stop Amy was already in motion, rucksack over one shoulder and thanking the driver as with a wheeze of pneumatic gears and pressurised gases, the door to the coach swung open, allowing her to step off onto the pavement and take in a breath of fresh air. This she did, lustily drinking in the strong breeze that whipped and played about her head quills, blowing out hard as though to expel the stale, musty odour of the recycled coach cabin as well as the dry, almost ancient air that seemed to have hung around the centre of the Station Square library since some of the younger pharaohs had been in nappies. _Wow, glad to be out of there_; well, in a way she was at least – as she set off down the road towards her apartment, the rose hedgehog thought about her last mental statement in a little more depth, analysing it and attempting to use some of the various and varied theories her lecturers had attempted to drill into herself and her classmates. Yes, in a way she was happy to be back out in the fresh air instead of cooped up inside, sat at on old, wooden desk with a chair that squeaked abominably every time she shifted her weight, but at the same time, she'd stayed there not through unconscious choice, but because necessity had demanded it and therefore her rational, thinking mind had overridden her instincts and plonked her down behind her books and essay notes. Before she could get too deeply into the psychological theory of how and why she'd done something however, the hedgehog visibly started and shook herself off; _that's enough of that – I've done a morning's work of research and copying down notes, and snagged a couple of useful books into the bargain, so I'm taking the afternoon off and getting back to it either tonight or tomorrow._

The thought made her smile a little as she tugged once more on her rucksack straps, the weight of the textbooks she'd run through the library scanner to claim as her own comforting in their own right as it meant she had a full week to ransack them for any useful information they may have been able to yield, and her essay wasn't due in for another fortnight anyway, so that was plenty of time to get it written, prepared and handed in well ahead of her deadline. Planning the foreword of her forthcoming essay occupied her mind pleasantly for the rest of the journey home, vague ideas about the placement of relevant theories and academic sources in the main stream of texts whirling around in her mind, colliding and colluding to try and give a clearer picture until, right on the doorstep of her apartment, she decided to call it a day for the minute and have another crack at finalising the design with the aid of a pen and paper at night. At that moment, other things were calling her; _the first of which_; the hedgehog decided as after a moment of fumbling around in her bag she managed to locate her keys; _is a very large mug of a very hot beverage_.

Letting herself in, Amy stepped onto the front door mat and banged her boots out, the same way she had ever since she moved in as most of the time she seemed to end up lumbered with the hoovering as her chore of the day. It was a routine she was so deeply entrenched in that it was only after she'd taken a few steps away from the mat itself that she realised the strange, muted thumping noise wasn't being made by her any more – after a quick double-take to make sure she'd not let anyone else in behind her, the undergraduate looked forwards again, brows knitted. The noise came again, a softer, more swishing noise this time; utterly bamboozled, Amy followed her ears past the bathroom, kitchen and along the left fork of the hallway, following it all the way up to its conclusion and opening the door at the end of it.

_I'm not even going to ask..._; bedlam greeted her, as it always did whenever she seemed to wind up staring into Sonic's room – no matter how often he, or she for that matter, contrived to tidy it up, it all seemed to revert back to its previously messy nature almost before the door had swung shut again. This time however, it looked as though the room itself had been given a helping hand in casting aside its veneer of civility, perilously thin at the best of times; what looked like a large duffel bag was open on the floor, uncatagorical piles of general junk were heaped on the bed and, framed by the open wardrobes he was now peering into, the master of this discord stood with his back to her, one hand scratching around his left ear before flying upwards, a sign of triumph as the blue blur looked to have made his mind up about a particularly pressing problem. Leant against the doorframe and shaking with silent mirth, Amy had to almost button her lips together as Sonic turned around, kicked the wardrobe shut with the same motion, caught sight of her and promptly froze, gormless expression and twin pairs of socks hanging limply from each hand only helping complete the picture of utter confusion,

"Oh, uhh, hi Ames", to his credit Sonic tried to cover up his momentary confusion with a brave stab at conversation, "I, ah, didn't hear you come in".

"So I guessed", she responded, stepping into the room itself and shaking her head, "what are you doing?"

"Ahh", Sonic appeared to be in two minds, glancing from her to the bag that now lay on the floor, unzipped teeth sprawled open and begging to be fed; _hmm_; she couldn't tell for sure, that was almost impossible to prejudge and could only be confirmed when the blue hedgehog opened his mouth again; _but I reckon he'd going to come clean_; "you know, just, packing".

"Packing?" Amy parroted the word as though she'd never heard it before, utterly dumbfounded until her mental calendar ticked forward a couple more days and she exploded suddenly, "Sonic we're not going 'til next Friday!" The hero shrugged,

"I know", without warning he started jumping up and down on the spot, extreme frustration on his face and pure mischief in his tone, "I can't wait I can't wait I can't wait!" Masking a smile at his childish antics, part, Amy now knew, of Sonic's vibrant approach to life that she was in all probability never going to change, the pink hedgehog put her hands on her hips and tried to look disapproving, nodding at her partners' opened duffel bag as she spoke,

"Well you're going to have to hold your horses this time; nothing even you could do can make next week go any quicker..."

"Don't _want_ to", she blinked as Sonic suddenly cut across her, his voice even higher pitched than before and arms folded, expression thunderous, "want to go there _now!_" He span on his heel, back to her and his spines bristled upright, typical for a hedgehog in high dudgeon but luckily, Amy had just noticed the very edge of the sly wink he'd sent her way, just before he'd swept away, and she knew what she had to do.

It was, or to be more accurate, was becoming a slightly more regular thing in their house now; having read as much of some of her psychology and counselling textbooks as interested him, the 'gory bits' as some of her lecturers liked to put it, Sonic now seemed to take it upon himself to take on the role of pretend patient, aping some of the symptoms for her to recognise and try to correct. He claimed it was solely intended for her benefit and she had to concede, albeit grudgingly, having someone act out the differing actions future patients of hers were likely to display was a bonus, though a large part of her wondered if Sonic didn't sometimes act up, as he was now, just for the sheer pleasure of being able to throw a tantrum and get away with it,

"Now, now", she judged her words and, more importantly, her tone carefully; listening but also with an edge of authority – most patients paid attention not to the words spoken but the way they were spoken, "you know you can't go there until next week".

"I _want _to!"

"And I want to as well"; _agree on a little point like that, build up trust and a rapport, even if it is an obnoxious, whiny little so-and-so_; "but think about it; can you make it Friday already – if you could I'd pack my things right now". Sonic seemed to deflate a little at this, mulling it over – Amy was about ready to think she'd done just enough when the blue hedgehog suddenly threw out an oblique, and awkward, line of thought,

"We could go now though"; _damn_; he hadn't followed that up with an insistence they act upon his logic, as she'd expect a child might've, but all the same that though was to her former arguments what a bowling ball was to a set of ninepins; _can't argue with it, the patient is right, have to...ah yes, of course, bring in other people_;

"If we go now", once more her tone was carefully pitched between agreement and authority, "Knuckles and Rouge would have absolutely no time to get ready for us, and I don't know about you but I don't see kipping on their front door step with a towel over me as an enjoyable start to the holiday".

_Bingo_; as Sonic's shoulders started to shake at her last line the undergraduate hedgehog gave herself a well-earned pat on the back – he had come up with an original line and she, thinking on the fly, had managed to counter it with nothing more than logic and, maybe, a quick bite of humour. Before she could get too carried away though, the blue hedgehog had turned around, one eyebrow raised,

"Well I don't know about you, but depending on what you were wearing under that towel it could be the best start to a vacation I've ever had". Amy scowled,

"We are not going to Angel Island for a dirty weekend you disgusting individual; we're going there to catch up with the guardians, make sure Lara-Le's okay and find out her due date – she won't tell Tails and if he asks me if I know one more time..." She left the sentence hanging, though by the way her hands contracted into sudden fists and gave a brutal twisting motion Sonic reckoned he had a pretty shrewd idea what might happen, and it was nothing too pleasant as far as his brother was concerned,

"I know, just messing", as always he laughed the whole thing off, stepping forwards and hugging her softly around the waist, "find anything interesting at the book-bin".

"The library", she corrected him, stepping back and patting the bag on her back, "and yep, got almost everything I need here; should be able to get this done before we jet off Friday. Still, giving it a break for a while – you had any lunch yet?"

"No, I was waiting for you to come in".

"With me in the library, that was a mistake", Amy pointed out, punching his arm slightly with a grin before sweeping her arm towards the door, "okay, I'll make it, you clear up after it". There was a sudden breeze on her cheeks; before she could register what had happened, she found herself facing Sonic's back once again, the last thing the optical sensors of countless Eggman robots had ever detected,

"Don't wanna do any cleaning"; _oh is that so?_;

"I know darling", her tone was the same for those few words, but then with an accuracy only another hedgehog would have been able to match, Amy stepped forwards and seized a decent handful of her boyfriends' back quills whilst avoiding their deadly, sharp points, yanking hard and dragging him unceremoniously towards the door despite his sudden yells of protest, "tough!"

XXX

As he glanced over his shoulder and watched his wife walk in to tap her boots out, Knuckles found himself assailed with a distinct feeling of déjà-vu; as he'd been able to read her thoughts from her face just before she left for her self-appointed errand, so now he reckoned he could just about have judged how well such a first foray had gone,

"No luck?" As he'd expected, the bat shook her head, stepping into the main living area of their small woodland cabin and slumping down into the seat opposite him, the chair a recent edition to the cabin and carved by Knuckles himself just prior to her taking up permanent residence on the isle in the sky,

"No, well, yes, in a way"; _not quite perfect then_; glancing up from the paper he was reading, the guardian watched on as Rouge rested a cheek on her fist, expression troubled as though she was finding it difficult to put her thoughts into words, "put it like this; if I'd been reporting this for my old job, it'd be something along the lines of 'main objective not accomplished, useful secondary information found'". Ruminating on this for a moment, Knuckles folded his paper shut and looked across the table, trying to gauge her meaning at the same time as ferret out what this useful information she had uncovered might be,

"Okay, you've got me interested; what'd you manage to dig up? Any skeletons in the closets you were poking about in?"

"Not that would frighten me", Rouge assured him with a battle-scowl, though such an expression quickly melted into one of, if not outright confusion, then certainly general bemusement at something, "but no – long story short the thing that got me a bit on the blind side this time was Espio".

_Ah, say no more_; the fact that Rouge and the chameleon mutually loathed each other was the worst-kept secret in the Chaotix, and in all honesty if the help of the four-Mobian team hadn't come as a package deal he'd have been very tempted to tell the abrasive reptile to sling his hook himself. However, as he looked across the table again fully expecting a tirade, the echidna found his preconceptions evaporate as, far from angry or upset, Rouge instead appeared to be almost lost in thought, chasing a memory as though unsure if it had been a dream or not.

"He was at the shrine when I turned up; I was hoping to catch Mighty actually but the two of them swapped shifts..."

"You mentioned she was looking rough last night", Knuckles chipped in; Rouge nodded before continuing with her story,

"...and she was, but anyway I wasn't expecting him to take on extra work – I mean since when has he done any more than the bare minimum?" This time it was Knuckles' turn to nod before the bat continued, "But anyway, he was there, I showed up; guess what happened next?" The guardian weighed his answer up in his mind, trying to simultaneously humour his wife at the same time as make sure nothing really untoward had occurred at the shrine itself; _if nothing else, it'll stop Vector trying to either apologise or chew my ears off later_;

"If it's anything like what usually happens I'm surprised I didn't hear it from here", he said gruffly before reading the answer to this line of thought in Rouge's body language, "though I'm guessing what happened wasn't usual?"

"And you'd be right – nothing happened", she confirmed with a shrug, explaining further as Knuckles appeared disbelieving to this news, "I mean it; how long have I been gone?" Thrown off-track by the unexpected question, Knuckles shrugged and stabbed in the dark,

"About two and something hours, give or take".

"Well I spent at least forty-five minutes of that with the wall-crawler; not a cross word between us and we're usually at each others' throats", the bat exclaimed, almost as if she didn't believe it had happened herself, "no, he was sound as a pound the whole time, even when I made a couple of oopsies he just let them slide".

"And that's not the Espio I know", Knuckles finished for her, eyebrows almost disappearing under the thick fringe of his dreadlocks, though as the shock abated somewhat he leant forwards, apparently thinking hard, "though saying that he has mellowed out a bit over the past few months - remember when we asked him to try and cut the roots of that huge one over at Mushroom Hill with his ninja stars, he never said a word, just got on with it".

"Just as well or we'd have been there all day, even with you and Mighty trying to pull the damn thing over", Rouge replied with feeling, the memory alone making her shoulders and hands ache as she recalled straining against a rope hooked into the flange of the mighty mushroom's cap, trying to help her husband rip it out the soft loam by its roots, though luckily the next memory that cycled up through her mind brought the smile back onto her face; _yeah, it might not have been fun getting all those spores all over us, but finding them again..._; her eye roved over the table, a sneaky smile on her lips; _...that was a different story. Still, that one's over – what's on the go now is still, unfortunately, ongoing_; breaking off from memory lane, Rouge brought herself to her full height and broke her husbands' concentration with a clap of her hands,

"Never mind him though, nice as such a sea-change is as far as he's concerned; what's on my plate now isn't going away any time soon – I'll let it lie a couple of days and then go back".

"Not giving up then?" With an outraged snort, the bat glared down as Knuckles, knowing he'd said the wrong thing, shrank back behind his paper,

"I'm not giving up after one bad day, God I'd never have done a single mission if I'd had that sort of attitude. Why, still think I'm going on a wild-goose chase?" The echidna shook his head,

"No, no, I still think you're right; what I meant was you'll be trying again like you said – better luck then". Irritation flushed away as easily as it had surfaced, Rouge smiled and reached forwards, gripping the corner of her husbands' paper and tugging it towards her,

"I hope so; I tell you Knucks I'd have a go at pretty much any of them except him – just my luck to pick the bad apple of the bunch first time around", deftly twisting the publication around, she started scanning the opened pages absently, "anything interesting?"

"Nah not really; Legion's keeping their head down, city's not expanding all that far and there's a couple more Mobians on the island – everything's under control as far as I could see. Now if you'll excuse me", Rouge found the paper she was reading start to scroll up and across the table, back towards its rightful owner; cheated, she stuck her tongue out as he fastidiously ignored her and carried on reading, "I want to see how the Flyers got on – if they won by more than three scores Shadow owes me a drink". Rouge scowled,

"After what he did to me last time I was there he owes me a damn sight more than that; how did you learn to read anyway?"

Think about it as she might in the future, Rouge would never be entirely quite sure why that question came blurting out at that moment; about the best she could do to rationalise it was that she had wondered about such a fact in the past and seeing her husband in such a natural pose with a newspaper with her mind on other things brought it bursting to the surface. Such abstract pondering was for the future, however; back at the present, her hands immediately flew to her mouth, far too late to stop the damning words being expelled, as she blanched immediately – from across the table Knuckles gawped at her, similarly speechless at such brazenness, even by the standards of the woman who'd proposed to him.

"I'm so sorry", Rouge's voice was muffled through her fingers, "I, why'd I say that – I'm really, really sorry". Still Knuckles said nothing, merely continuing to stare at her dumbfounded; for a second the bat was afraid she was about to tear up under his unflinching scrutiny but, in the nick of time from her point of view, her husband managed to relocate his tongue and try to make head and tails from the verbal mess she'd landed herself in,

"I don't know..."

"I don't either", belatedly she tried to make a joke of the whole thing, "look, I'll sling my tongue over my shoulder and we'll just forget the whole thing, okay?"

"No, no"; _damn, trust me not to be that lucky_; before she could curse her ill-fortune too harshly, however, he spoke again, a strange half-smile on his face as he glanced down, almost as though staring at himself, "I mean I don't know how I know. I'm trying to think about it, but I can't remember if I ever spoke when I was up here on my own, the first time I know I definitely spoke to someone wasn't until the Death Egg came crashing into my world". He gave an apologetic shrug as Rouge furrowed her brows, mulling the situation over in her mind,

"Could you speak to him okay – Eggman I mean", she explained, Knuckles giving a soft 'oh' as he understood where she was coming from, "first time you had a little tete-a-tete, you were able to communicate I assume?"

"I guess so, I try not to think about those days too much though", he admitted, self-consciously scratching the back of his head even if he knew the mental itchiness of such embarrassing memories, of being hoodwinked by arguably the most dangerous human being in history and used a tool for the mad doctors' schemes, would never truly fade, "I think I was able to, though we didn't really say much from what I can remember; I just listened for the most part. But no, I think I could either speak straight off or I learnt to speak pretty damned fast, though even so", his gaze dropped to the paper in his hand as though he'd never seen it before, taking in the words and trying to think about how he knew the words, rather than simply scan through the text as he normally did, "in that vein, how come I'm able to read, and write, or even tie my own shoelaces for that matter – it's not like I ever had anyone to teach me".

"I'm sure your mum did what she could before you left", Rouge put in delicately, knowing that despite his outward composure the lack of a mother in his early life had still left scars in her husbands' mind, even more so now he'd finally been reunited with her at last, "anyway, try not to think about it too much; put it down to me being too nosey", she chuckled, Knuckles joining in a second later, slapping his paper against his knees as he stood up, looking towards the door,

"And the surprise there is...? Nah, if I remember I'll ask the relics next time I'm in Haven, apart from that though, things to do and people to get ready for". _People to...oh yeah_; thinking into the near future, Rouge caught up with the guardians' plan and nodded,

"True, they're coming over here for a meal then?"

"Yeah, lunch with mum and Wyn, they'll see what there is to see in town for a couple of hours and we'll meet them somewhere – that's the general consensus I managed to hammer out with Amy last time we spoke". Rouge snickered,

"Though how well the Smurf manages to stick to that remains to be seen"; Knuckles slowly rotated his face towards her, a basilisk expression of sardonic expectation astride his features as his answer rolled forwards, pregnant with expectation,

"I'm not sure about him batgirl but I expect you to set an example – best behaviour or else". The bat leant forwards, smirking,

"Or else what Knuxie – come on, I'm all ears"; as though to prove the point she swivelled both her umbrella appendages forwards, casting her husband almost into shadow – undaunted however, the echidna leant in to whisper,

"How about", Rouge braced herself, expecting him to shout and deafen her, but instead his voice dropped even lower, a velvet shade of speech that only massaged the worries now walking up and down her spine, ""I'll let mum know you let the family down, and she can deal with you?"

The bat recoiled from the table,

"Foul, foul, no fair, below the belt", she exploded, Knuckles sniggering as she threw herself to her feet and impaled him with the accusing finger of dread, "if that were any lower it'd have whale-flop on it – I can not believe you even said that!"

"Believe it batgirl, it just got said", Knuckles assured her, standing up and moving towards the door, arm extended as though expecting a farewell hug; _dream on, after that little episode_; as Rouge stood with her arms folded however he relented, face more serious as he passed her on his way out, "besides that though, good luck for next time Rouge; whatever's happening though, I know I've got the best bat in the business to dig it up for me, except maybe..." A shadow passed over his face as, unbidden, a ghost from his own past stepped into the light of his mind, darkening all that passed before the gaze of its blank, unfeeling mask; shaking his head to clear the depressing spectre from his mind, he tried to regather the thread of his thought, "...well, with any luck we'll never run into him again; all square on that front. Well, good luck", hoping to get away from this line of conversation as he knew how painful it was for Rouge, Knuckles bade her a quick farewell and made to take his leave, "I'll give you some peace to come up with a plan; would you mind getting a bucketful for when I get back, need something to wash the bitterroot when I've finished digging it up".

"Yeah, no problem"; _she's too distracted now_; knowing she had problems on her mind Knuckles wisely bowed himself out and left her to her pondering, scrubbing the doubt from his mind and focussing on tracking down a decent growth of bitterroot at the same time as file away her pertinent question at the back of his mind; _would the Brotherhood actually know about how we read and write – well, if anyone would have an idea it'd be Spectre_; despite scrutinising the ground Knuckles spared enough concentration to smile as he pictured his eldest relatives' face as he asked the fateful question; _though getting him to come clean about his theory rather than dismissing it as the will of the Master, that's a different challenge altogether!_

XXX

It had been a real struggle to hold herself back for this long; even despite the preparations she was having to help with, as much for her adoptive in-laws as for herself, Lara being so far gone into her pregnancy now she was virtually completely _hors-de-combat_, Rouge had virtually had to seal herself in her cabin to stop trespassing onto the Master Emerald's home territory, except when she was scheduled to be there of course. As she touched down this time however she knew she'd been right to do so; the second her toes hit the floor some deep instinct flared into life, her heart suddenly pumping hard in her chest as she tensed, senses alive and alert for anything potentially untoward. It was a sensation she'd felt before, the characteristic kick in the guts that told her in no uncertain terms that this time she'd got it absolutely right in hanging back.

_Perfect_; though she had enough caution to analyse the situation and any potential pitfalls that were still lurking to catch her out, the bat hadn't done as well as she had in the past by not trusting her guts, and this time they were churning away merrily with the situation as she saw it so far; _one of them as far as I can tell, though of course, which one it is may determine how well this next fifteen minutes or so pan out_. True, the memory of Espio had been one of the reasons she'd left this showdown so long; despite his earlier good conduct the chameleon wasn't going to be forgiven after a single days' good behaviour, and Rouge would have bet money the first thing he'd have done was put the word around the rest of the team about her impromptu visit; _and wouldn't Vector be smart enough to put two and two together and come up with a conspiracy? Still, no point worrying about it now – the only way to go_; squaring her shoulders, the bat quelled the gnawing worries in her belly and, breathing out hard, took the first of several steps towards what was now her joint-destiny, the Master Emerald that she was bound by honour and marriage to protect with her life and if necessary death, and, more importantly at this moment in time, the Mobian who was currently guarding it in her and her husbands' stead; _is forwards._

XXX

Once more the waves of lassitude rose up and drowned him; as his body settled on the rough stone underneath him Vector's mind just kept sinking, submerged by the lethargy that seemed to be his constant companion these days. Exhausted but functioning the crocodile trudged on, the same old cycle repeating as it had done for these past few weeks; work, eat, sleep, phase out of step with the rest of existence when not doing one of the other three things, or when forced to interact with someone – a monotonous wheel that he was running in, one that had left him slump-shouldered and soul-sick, but still he kept running for if he fell off, if he relented for just an instant, there was a very real chance that he'd drag someone else off the rails with him, someone who'd already gone through torment enough to make his sufferance seem as nothing. So nothing changed; Vector, as with the others in the Chaotix, remained marooned in a misty no-mans-land somewhere between nightmare, day-dream and still-life, unable to press on, unwilling to take a fatal backward step and leave one of their own behind – it was stalemate, something that could only be broken by a flash of true inspiration, a stroke of brilliant leadership that he had singularly failed to provide. _And the worst thing of all_; the small part of his brain that hadn't been lost in the haze shuddered, railing against and repulsed by the thought the rest of him accepted in gentle submission; _I can't be asked to give a damn about it_.

Normally he was the first one there with, if not a solution for that was Charmy to a T, then at least a practical solution the team could put into effect quickly and, more importantly, with minimum expenditure required; right now though that aim , along with virtually everything else in his mind, had been drowned and deluged to such an extent that his mind was a vacuum, ideas passing through with nothing altering them on their journey from one side of his mind to the other, leaving them raw, unfurnished shells that couldn't survive the harsh rigors of the real world. In this ultimate blankness Vector felt himself float, suspended in emptiness, occasionally twisting this way and that as the last vestiges of his creative spark thrashed feebly this way and that, seeking to find the answer, finding only nothing...nothing...nothing...

"Vec?"

XXX

Before her very eyes he seemed to come to life again, an ancient statue revived to life by the fires of industry lit once more in its belly; Rouge stayed where she was, resolve hardening by the second as it has in the long, silent moments she'd watched the crocodile just sitting there, a semi-comatose lump oblivious to her presence until she'd broken the silence. That she had, however, was merely the beginning of the game; despite his sluggish start and the malaise he'd shown over the past few weeks, the bat was under no illusion that the head of the Chaotix was still a clever, canny player in his own right - her next moves would be crucial in determining how well this problem would be resolved,

"Humm, oh", stretching up into a yawn Vector blinked blearily at her, "'ey up Red; sorry ya caught me wi'me pants down there, I was 'bout t'doze right off". Seeing through his paper-thin ploy in an instant Rouge nevertheless played along, wrinkling her nose at the mental image he'd sown,

"Now that is a sight I never hope to see Vec; you with your trousers round your ankles", she shuddered, the crocodile smiling but failing to actually laugh at the reflected joke, "anyway, just poking about, not much on at the minute..."

"Though y'were gettin' ready fer the visitors frum the world below?"

"No point, not right now anyway", she confessed, and it was true in a way – as much as could be safely prepared and stored for when Sonic and Amy crashed onto the island was already in hand, and even that which wasn't was well planned for, "gotta get some of the ingredients fresh as possible – you know how it is up here?" Vector nodded,

"Too right I do". _Good_; even as she concluded her thought the bat tensed herself for the next step, one that would hopefully let her rush to victory in this contest of wills,

"Just as well because I'm looking for a clearer picture"; she judged it well, her tone brisk enough to exclude questioning but caring enough to show she really did want an answer for this question at face value, "how's Mighty doing at the minute – last time I was here Esp let me know she wasn't feeling too hot". Reminded unpleasantly of the two women he was trying hard not to think about too much, the crocodile squared his shoulders and pitched forwards regardless, all the time both wishing Rouge would just go away and trying to keep a lid on his temper simultaneously,

"An' 'e were right, she ain't", he replied brusquely, though even his mental fog was lifted slightly by the slightly hurt expression Rouge sent his way at this and, with a concentrated effort, managed to lighten up just a little, "dun worry though, nuthin' too serious – she'll be right as rain in a coupla days if I'm any judge". _Slowly, take this one slowly_; heeding her better nature, Rouge let a relieved smile break over her face – though she wanted nothing more than to dive in and reach the bottom of whatever evil swamp was sucking in her best friends, she knew this time she had to keep her head, play it cool and slowly lower herself in inch by inch if she was to have any hope of success this time,

"That's a relief then; I have a suspicion I'll need someone to distract the Smurf for at least a couple of hours over the weekend while I try to rewire my brain – I don't know how he does it but somehow every time it ends up scrambled every time he's about".

"Yeah, so I've 'eard", Vector just about managed to smile with his lips, his eyes were still lifeless and dull, haunted by the knowledge of what lay behind them, "summat t'do wi'im coppin' 'old o'yer lugs far as I can remember last time weren't it?" Rouge scowled,

"Yes it was and I swear to you now that if he tries to pull that trick twice he'll be leaving this island the hard way", she mimed chucking someone off the edge of her adopted home, Vector shaking his head at the motion, though whether this was from mirth or despair she couldn't tell; _right, that's enough of this paddy-footing about!_

It broke at that moment; despite all her promises that she'd reason this one through and gather snippets at a time to piece this puzzle together something, recklessness, daring, maybe even her instincts thrusting themselves forwards in an unquellable need to lance this pestilent boil, Rouge heard her own voice burst forwards, her pitch high, her tone brooking no opposition,

"Not funny Vector – funny that, you, and Charmy, and Mighty, you don't seem to be finding very much funny at the minute. Not like you, certainly not like any of you I know", should she have stopped, was that enough – it was a question she would never know the answer to because she never stopped, could not stop until her breath was utterly spent, "but one thing I do know Vector, one thing I do know very well indeed – I don't like it much, in fact I outright hate it. And another thing I know", she leant in close, closer to where the crocodile sat at the top of the stairs, apparently shocked beyond words, beyond any reaction of any kind, "I know whatever it is, it's gone on far too long and it's tearing you apart, all of you – look at yourself Vector", imploringly she took a step back, arms raised at him like a prophet of ancient times, beseeching her lord to see the damage he was wreaking and stave of disaster while he still had the chance, "I was here way before you even reacted and it's not the first time, Mighty's so knackered she slept through most of the time I was with her at the weekend and I don't want to even think about Charmy", that much was true at least; the bee was a subject too sore for her to even contemplate right now, least of all when she knew she was lecturing someone who loved him even more than she did,

"Whatever it is that's doing this, whatever's hurting you all that much it can't be worth it; Jesus Vector, for Christ sake _do_ something about it, either with me, with someone else or, Christ I don't know", the bat's throat tightened, tears weren't far away as she hadn't spoken with this much passion for a long time; maybe not since her moment before the altar had she said a truth she'd meant so completely as she did now, at this moment, "just help yourselves; whatever it is, get the hell rid of it before it hurts you any more!"

She stayed on her feet after the monologue had run its course, though how she managed that feat was quite beyond her; her hands sank to her knees and she heaved down a few deep breaths but that was about as far as it went; _and praise the Master for that – breaking down right now could..._ It was a thought she never finished as a single sound filtered through to her ears, one that made total wretchedness swirl around in the pit of her stomach like filth at the bottom of a cesspool – her neck felt like it was made of straw as she tried to raise her head, her eyes seemed to want to look any way but up towards the top step of the shrine – her own body conspiring to try and avoid the terrible nativity she had created. It could not last though, she could not permit it to for as she was responsible for this tragedy, so she was responsible for aiding its conclusion; no more did she run away as she had before in the past to leave others to pick up the pieces – with this in mind, the guardian eventually grimaced and forced her eyes upwards, heart wrenched cruelly by the sight before her even as her lead-soled feet mechanically took the first pace forwards and up, up to where her friend needed her now more than he ever had before.

For at the pinnacle of the Master Emerald shrine, sat where he was with his head buried in his hands, Vector Crocodile sat once more truly oblivious to the world, resistance ground away to almost nothingness by the impenetrable whetstone he'd set it against and leaving him helpless, nothing more he could do in the face of such horror than weep at his terrible misfortune.

She was exhausted even before she began the ascent, a succession of no more than a half-dozen steep, upwards steps that she'd made countless times, first as a thief trying to steal the treasure that sat atop it, then reformed as a guardian of that same treasure, all the more priceless now as an entire civilisation rested atop the island the Master Emerald held suspended in the sky. For someone to remove the great green stone now would be a calamity of epic proportions; not only was there a good chance that Angel Island would now sink rather than float due to the extra weight it now supported, due to its enlarged size, a good six or seven times the size it had been when the bat had first touched down upon it, the displacement of water its impact would have generated would have sent tsunamis sweeping across the globe, tidal waves of such vast scope and power any and all coastal defences would have been buckled and broken utterly before them. This extra responsibility, guardianship, in a way, of an entire race of Mobians as well as the power source that maintained their sanctuary in the sky, pressed down on all who were sworn defendants of the duty as never before, but at that moment in time it was a duty Rouge was neglecting utterly; as she stooped down and placed a hand on the shuddering crocodiles' shoulder, at a loss for what to do next, someone could have walked in brazenly and snatched the stone from its pedestal and she would have been none the wiser for its disappearance until her feet started getting wet.

XXX

He knew what he'd been doing; known from the first moment the size of the burden he and the other two had been called upon to shoulder, and he had done so willingly and with, if not no hesitation, then at least only a very short pause that only the most saintly angel in Heaven would have damned him for.

So why had it only now started hurting?

Rouge's words had come at him like a battering ram, driven into him like a stake at a vampires' heart and the pain of it was enough to force tears flooding from his already-aching tear ducts. Like someone emerging from a trance to find blood on their hands and the body of a trusted friend lying beside them lifeless, Vector felt himself for the first time in weeks fully capable of feeling the emotions the burden on his mind had crushed within him; the first one that had struck him now was pain, horrible, hurtful agony and frustration of all that he knew now and the helplessness that had gnawed since this whole deleterious business had began, so long ago on Christmas day. Shivering in the ball he had become out of instinct, the reptile was confronted with the one thing he had been trying to avoid, either by sinking into his comfortable numbness or trying to help the others deal with their own share of the circumstances – his own emotions on the whole subject flooded into his mind, transforming it instantly from a tranquil but boring ocean of isolation to a seething maelstrom of hatred, confusion and other emotions that he could not even begin to describe. _But I have to protect her_; when all else was lost in the storm it was the singular truth he had to cling to, the last commandment he knew he must uphold no matter the cost; _doesn't matter, about anything – I have to make sure Esp is okay in this – she matters in this, I do not_.

A contact, the merest edge of a feather touch on his shoulder and he leapt up like a branded steer; his water-filled eyes saw nothing beyond a distorted smear, a riot of colours that defied his limited logistical capacities before he forced them all away and buried his vision again, once more in his protective ball, the only defence he had left against the cruel, unfair world. There was a buzzing noise all around him, maddening – his constricted throat stopped his shout drowning it out completely, then the most frightening experience of all, the experience that broke his defensive posture in a frightened, reflexive explosion. Before he was even aware what he'd done the crocodile was in mid-air, the owner of the arms that had tried to wrap around him likewise thrown upwards and away; suddenly desperate even beyond fear, he made a clumsy lunge towards where she was flying away, his eyes macabrely clear now, forcing him to gaze deeply into and remember for all time the perfect expression of shock and terror on his victim's face as she fell, hurled by his wild, brute strength to fall down the stone steps at her back. As she landed, in the very instant her face was twisted into a mask of pain by the force of her landing Vector felt it, the absolute split-second his mind would mercifully never allow him to remember fully. Past and present blurred together, memories of tortured speech by one important female in his life transmogrifying into sickening reality on the very face of another, and this time the blame of it was laid squarely on his head like the blow of an executioners' axe.

For the briefest second he combined Esprana's tragic story with the knowledge of the pain he had just forced upon Rouge and saw, in perfect clarity, the true face of the demon that lurked in the soul of men, all men, no matter how pious, and the horror such a beast could inflict upon that man's partner, the one being on earth God had meant to be his equal.

He saw the evil a man could do to a woman, and his good heart was sickened to the very cusp of death by the sight of it.

XXX

She had expected a reaction but its scale caught her unprepared; why she'd even gone down on one knee to embrace him she wasn't entirely sure but that was neither here nor there now; all that mattered to the bat now was the fact that she'd made a grave mistake in underestimating the crocodile's trauma. As soon as she'd made contact he'd rebelled violently, thrusting himself up and pushing her away with little more than a hard buffet of his arm; she'd overcome the vertigo that had assailed her briefly as she was hurled through air without the aid of her wings and let her combat reflexes kick it; glancing over her shoulder the bat cursed in her head even as her body took over, whipping her wings out for as long as it was safe to do so to slow her fall and reduce the impact she was sure to have on the solid stone floor beneath her.

In all fairness it wasn't the first time she'd ended up like this; in younger, less friendly days when her relationship with Knuckles had been less sparking, more no-holds-barred sparring, she and he had both taken several falls similar to this one, and in fact a fair few worse as well. _All above board and legal like, shame it doesn't hurt any less after practice_; typically, the first thought that came swimming to her dazed mind after the impact was gallows humour rather than anything productive. Still, overall she'd been lucky; coming down directly on her back as she had she'd not run the risk of fracturing her brittle wing-bones and had been able to use her arms to cushion her fall – even so, the shockwaves that had rippled up her body after hitting the dirt ached no end and made her see stars for a minute. Blinking hard and shaking her head to blow away the cobwebs, Rouge squinted up the way she'd come and found her aches and pains melted to nothingness by the sight that greeted her there.

Upwards, pushing against the flares of discomfort in her legs and back, feet slamming into the stonework of the steps she'd just been catapulted down, her last move a last-ditch spring, strongest foot forwards and with a desperate war-cry arisen screaming from her parched throat, a split-second distraction to take Vector's mind from the nihilistic self-mutilation he would otherwise have undertaken. The air erupted from his lungs in a wheezing hiss as the ball of her foot bit home, slamming into his stomach and driving back, back and upwards to impact on his diaphragm; he lost all feeling in his lower half, his arms dropping to his sides, the hands he'd thrust into his gaping jaws falling away from the danger zone as he collapsed, folding around Rouges' foot until it withdrew as viperishly swiftly as it had arrived, leaving him to collapse. Tears welling up in his eyes he tried to look forwards; an impact on his jaw made him see stars, his perception of reality fading away towards blackness and he welcomed it with open arms, the muted thump of his body on the cold stone oddly comforting, rather like falling into bed, a blanket under which he could sleep away all the troubles that had ripped apart his mind. Something buzzed around him and he tried to feebly swat it away, drift away to slumber – he was torn bloodily into reality once more as hands grabbed the end of his muzzle, pulling him roughly upwards into the teeth of the shouting now registering in his pounding ears,

"...you dare Vector", Rouge didn't understand what had just happened but knew that the sight of the crocodile threatening to bite his own hands, tear off his own fingers with his jaws, was a life-or-death situation in her eyes, "you won't do this, I won't let you! Oh, oh no", she broke off, sobbing now as she threw her arms around him properly, straddling him on the floor; her tears mixed with his own as she sank down with him, a single word and then the rest of a demand spilling from her tear-wetted lips,

"Why? Oh scaly", she paused to sniff deeply, hearing Vector underneath her finally shudder and let go of whatever was crushing him so despairingly, "what's going on with you guys; what is going on?"

For long minutes this tableau remained stationary, the tryst the others had joked about so often finally consummated in desolation rather than joy; sinking down on her new lover in this masochistic rhapsody, Rouge let herself slide up the crocodiles' body, her ears brushing the underside of his jaw until they reached his throat, her arms likewise linked around his neck, slim fingers trailing along the back of his neck and head, toying with the hair he'd never be able to grow. Entwined with him Rouge felt herself nevertheless distanced from his plight; despite Vector clutching and even almost crushing her with his brawny arms, her bat's mind was distanced from the scenario, her eyes drying from her tears of shock and breathing now steady; _he needs me just to be here right now – no point getting involved when the pain's this raw. Just wait_; she alighted her train of thought for a minute to shift in his arms, breathe a little easier as Vector's grip threatened to crush yet more air from her lungs; _and when the time's right and he's ready to let go of all this, work out what to do from there_. Obeying her reasoning Rouge said nothing, her gaze fading into the middle distance as she clung around the crocodiles' neck, a sponge to soak up his tribulations as they flowed from him unstoppably, a buffer that drained away some of the hurt from his overburdened heart; it was a grim task, a forbidding duty but one Rouge did not relent from, not for an instant, until at last she felt his hands start to fall away from her shoulders, the squeeze on her back lessening. Still she said nothing, not even now for she knew that to move too soon could have spelt disaster; only when she felt herself buoyed up gradually from beneath, rising in time with Vector's levelled out breathing, did she speak, her voice flat and devoid of emotion even if her position didn't change from where she was, stretched out of her front atop the crocodile's sinuous body,

"What's going on Vector; I'm asking you this as your friend".

Where hysterical pleading had failed, monotone logic prevailed – unable to bear up any longer once the dam had breached and then crumbled utterly Vector, in the same dead voice Rouge had just spoken in, told her everything.

XXX

After the pain, after the confession, only then did the guilt rear up and bury its poisoned fangs in his belly; fortunately this time, already overdosed on so many different venoms, Vector found he only felt the shame that he had been found lacking in resolve at this most vital of junctions only disjointedly, as though it wasn't truly him who was to blame for this.

Similarly he only vaguely realised Rouge had moved when he felt cold stone under his arms, the rush and rustle of a cool breeze over his chest as the warmth departed; the light from above was eclipsed and he squinted upwards, just in time to see Rouges' face peering down at him. The bat's expression was grave, there were tears smouldering at the corners of her eyes; he didn't resist, couldn't really muster any kind of rebellion as she leant forwards, disappearing from his view for a second as her lips brushed against his forehead, the gesture sinking in but not meaning very much in the blankness of his mind – only when the guardian spoke again did things start to make sense,

"Vector", his head lolled around to focus on her more fully, taking in her expression as she carried on, "you, and the others as well; you've been coping with this, all this time?" He nodded, relocating his tongue at last enough to reply,

"Yeah"; he would have said more but found he couldn't be inclined to do so – luckily Rouge didn't seem to notice his lethargy as she continued on,

"This is why you've all been so distracted, and even why Esp, did you say her name was Esprana?" He nodded at the name he now knew at least as well as his own, "She's been so different, because she's trying to change, she's trying to come to terms with this as well?"

She screwed her eyes closed, trying to beat this alien knowledge through her skull and into her brain, making precious little headway until she finally decided to focus on one thing at a time and decided the best place to start would probably be the crocodile she still had pinned beneath her thighs; _ah, might want to do something about that_; she stood up slowly, cramp in her legs from the earlier fall pinging away merrily as she did so, trying to stop herself from blushing as she put herself into the eyes of someone just walking into the shrine to be confronted by that sort of vision; _last thing I need right now is the accusation of an affair – last time I looked it was Sonic suggesting things like that and look where that ended up!_ Amusing as such a memory was, however, she swiftly stuffed all senses of humour to the back of her mind and refocused on the problem at hand, lending a hand for Vector to heave himself into a sitting position, his eyes still red but also blank, still reeling from the confessions he'd just been forced to divulge,

"I'm sorry batgirl". Having opened her mouth to speak, Rouge found her jaw suddenly hanging slack as his unexpected apology caught her completely off-guard; only after blinking stupidly for a few minutes did she manage to gasp a reply,

"Sorry? Sorry for what?" He shied away, unable to look her in the eye,

"Fer that", he pointed away down the steps, seeing once more the horror and sudden fear that had transfixed itself onto her face as he'd callously thrown her away, "y'went flyin', coulda broken 'oo knows 'ow many bones an' it'd'a bin my fault..."

"Shut up!" Rouge wasn't going to listen to this agonised recrimination for the simple reason it was so blatantly false, "What I said to Knuckles once I'll say to you now – I'm not some shrinking violet, I know what I'm doing and if it means taking a few punches along the way I'll roll with them, end of story. Come on, who out of all of us hasn't done worse when we've been messing around; remember that shiner Knuckles gave me when I ducked right into him – that was an accident, just like this was so don't give me any of this bull about you half-killing me; if anything Knuckles would probably have given you a hand if he were here, just desserts for me poking my nose in where it wasn't welcome".

"Even where it were this time", the crocodile almost quipped, though his spirits were too low to be lifted by humour now, "bu' y'know now; Esp's bin 'urt in 'er past b'fore, we jus' got t'ear 'bout it and it's all kicked off frum there. She's loads better now like..."

"She'd better bloody well be", the bat suddenly declared forcefully, gaze falling almost without meaning to downwards onto his forearm, seeing if she could pick out the scars from the dark ritual he'd described had happened one night, the one that had finally brought the chameleon's walls crashing down in a tide of bile and blood, "after all you did for her, you especially Vec; slicing yourselves open, threatening to do it again", she glanced at her own wrist and shuddered; _no, I wouldn't be able to do it_; "better is the very least I'd expect after that".

"Like y'said, I knew what I were doin'", even as he said it though the crocodile felt his spirits drop even lower; squaring up to the truth as he knew it now, the problem that had plagued him perhaps more than any other he had face up to now, "at least, I did back then; right now I ain't gotta ruddy clue whatta do next".

Rouge said nothing for a moment; what was there she could really say in the face of all this? Planning ahead was getting her nowhere, there were just too many variables to render it worthwhile; _so all that leaves me_; she nodded to herself, glancing behind her again at where Vector had sat up, kneading his forehead with his thick fingertips; _is what to do about the here and now_;

"Well here's something you're going to do now", she counselled sagely, experience of coping with stress from her previous occupation lending her a helping hand in this regard, "you're going to clean yourself up, go home and get some kip for the rest of the day; you need a bit of a breather now Vector, you and the rest of the guys. From there..." she tailed off, not sure what to say next; what could you say when part of the world as you knew it was blown apart and flipped on its head; _and that's just me – imagine how it must have been for people who've known Espio for so many years?_ Despite this silence however, the bat was a little reassured to see her friend drag his fingers down his face in time to reply in a care-worn voice,

"Right in ever'thing bar one", he looked over, a craggy smile on his lips as he made to stand up, "I ain't goin' back yet – look a'me", his hands outlined his tear-streaked cheeks and bloodshot eyes, things he knew he could do nothing about without time in which to be alone, "not gonna do much fer keepin' a secret walkin' through me front door lookin' like this am I – oh", without warning a sudden fear gripped him and he shot to his feet, Rouge leaping back out of instinct and nearly tumbling back down the stairs again, "y'can't tell 'er Rouge; Esp I mean, y'can't tell 'er ya know what I just told ya, she was gunna tell y'in 'er own time".

The bat nodded; _that much at least I can understand – it's not the sort of thing you come out with in a casual conversation is it – hi, you know you've been calling me Espio, I only called myself that because I was abused as a kid and made a new life for myself because of it, my name's actually Esprana_; it sounded almost foolish to her own ears, no wonder the chameleon couldn't bring herself to do it, least of all after being forced to come clean to her closest friends about the truth of her past. Weighing it up in a fraction of a second, she nodded at where Vector was stood, almost seeing the tension drain from his boot soles as she inclined her head and gave her answer,

"I understand that Vec, Christ in a way I understand it better than most, some of the things that happen behind the closed doors of the men in power. My lips are sealed, you can trust me on that better than you can trust me on anything else believe me".

"I do", he agreed, sniffing deeply to try and unbung his nose, "thanks batgirl, means one 'ell of a lot t'me, dun think Esp woulda forgiven me if she found out I told".

"She won't find out, not from me", the bat assured him, already surrounding the awful information that had just avalanched on her in the crocodiles' blubbering, wailing speech; even as she did so however the crocodile shook his head, acceptance of a basic, if unpalatable fact on the tip of his tongue; _still can't stop this one, blood is thicker than water after all_;

"Y'might as well tell Knucks", he admitted, each word dragged from him as painfully as a barbed hook would have been ripped from his flesh, "'e's yer other 'alf after all, 'e might as well know".

"Not to mention the fact he's keeping us all in work", the bat quipped, trying to inject a little humour into the dire situation, though as she'd expected it had about as much effect as defibrillating a corpse, " but I will say this; you should tell the others, obviously not Esp, but Charmy and Mighty", seeing where she was going with this and realising it made a lot of sense, the crocodile nodded as she finished her advice, "they ought to know. If nothing else it'll help them cope; Vector, listen to me", he glanced up as she stepped forwards, didn't resist as she took his hand in hers, the size difference potentially comical if the situation hadn't been so serious, "I swear to you now, impossible as it might have seem at the minute, some day we will all look back on this and think 'oh now why didn't we do X, Y or Z and sort this whole thing out earlier'".

"Yer right 'bout one thing Red", the crocodile replied after a minutes thought, glancing down at the way the bat's tiny gloved rested in her own, a shapely leaf lain fallen on a canopy of white, "righ' now, that dun 'alf sound impossible". _I know_; even as she grinned in the face of his weak humour the bat felt her heart sink behind the painted expression; _and the worst thing of all Vec, when you say that I believe you myself_.

XXX

"Oh no", as soon as he walked in he could tell from the frigid atmosphere that something had happened and he'd have wagered all the money in the guardians' funds that it was nothing good, "not you as well?" _Strange_; no matter how poor the general mood he'd have expected a bit of a quip from his missus – it was only when he rounded the door to the bedroom, however, that he saw his wifes' face and realised that this event, whatever it was, was enough to knock all her sense of fun from her sails. She stood up as he entered the room, standing tall to look him in the face; for a second they said all they needed to say with their faces before Rouge stood to the side, gesturing to him to take a seat,

"Sit down Knucks", she said colourlessly, more demand in such a flat statement than even the most hysterical demand could have generated and as such Knuckles had no choice but to obey it; settling down, the mattress crinkling under his weight, the echidna looked up and smiled upwards sadly,

"Okay then Rouge, I can guess what happened earlier; how bad is it?"

"Worse, worse than worse", she shook her head, still not sure it had fully sunk in with her yet as she sat down on the bed next to her husband, trying to think about how to word what she had to say next with very little time in which to do so, "I have to tell you this first Knucks; what I say now goes no further than this, these four walls – not even your mum hears about this okay?"

"Fine", Knuckles replied shortly, his wry observation that there was a lot Lara-Le never found out about his work and love life dying on his tongue as he put an arm around his brides' shoulders, "you've got my word as a guardian and, more than that, as your husband; mum won't hear a word".

"Good, I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy, least of all her and least of all now, weeks away until I get a brother-in-law!" The guardian chuckled, brightening more now as something broke through the skein of depression that had been stretched taut over his wifes' face,

"Calm down", he reprimanded jokingly, swatting her shoulder to try and crush her jovial exuberance; he did no such thing of course as she merely grinned even wider and poked her tongue out at him; for a second he dared hope this was a green shoot of recovery but even as the thought entered his mind it withered away before his eyes, the grin curdling into a sad smile as the fun dropped from her eyes. Realising there was no way to even try and avoid what was coming, the echidna instead settled back and prepared for the worst,

"Okay, I know I can't stop it; let me hear it warts and all".

"It's the only way you can hear it Knuckles", the bat replied a minute later, physically shaking herself down as she tried to catalogue what Vector had confessed to her, attempted to block out the agonies in his voice, purge the emotion and pain to try and deliver this devastating news to her husband, as it had been delivered to her, "but believe me, I wish there was another way you could hear it".

XXX

By the time she had finished the world had turned dark and cold, a chill breeze sending the newly-budding branches rustling outside, some of them tapping the roof of the guardians' home as the last few words spilt from the bat's lips, Knuckles hearing what she had told Vector to do in the aftermath of his dam finally breaking. He absorbed what she had said in silence, nothing showing on his face in all the time Rouge had been speaking; much as he had when he was guarding the Master Emerald in older days, he seemed to turn to stone as the words flowed over and around him. Only when it was over, the story ended, did he come back to life; blinking at first, the echidna gazed across the short space between the two of them, eyes hard as flint but voice soft as velvet,

"So", Rouge pricked her ears; could her husband have seen something she'd missed, figured a way out of the mire, "Espio's, ah, he's actually called Esprana, and he's a girl", Rouge nodded and Knuckles chortled, dreadlocks swaying as he brought his hand to his forehead, "anybody called Rocky Horror yet – it sounds like a scene right out of their book".

The line shattered the sombre move utterly; Rouge's ears almost covered her kneecaps as she hugged her stomach, trying desperately not to laugh as it seemed an unseemly thing to do after such a horrible tale of woe. Sorting herself out after a minutes' hard struggling, the bat managed to sit up again, smiling for the first time in what felt like years,

"Knuckles I'm shocked", she tried to sound reproachful but the grin across her lips gave that away as false, "I'd expect a little seriousness at a time like this, and from you of all people".

"And from me you'll get it", he replied, tone once more in complete control as he stood up and offered Rouge his hand, pulling her to her feet, "I reckon the best, in fact scratch that the only, thing we can do about this is try to forget it..."

He knew he'd made a mistake almost before he'd said it; as Rouge ripped her hand from his, outright horror writ large on his face, Knuckles knew he had to quickly correct himself and try to limit the damage brought about by a slip of his clumsy tongue,

"Sorry, that didn't come out right", he held his hands up to his mistake, quietly relieved the bat opposite him seemed to relax at his words, listening rather than numb with shock as she had been a second ago, "what I meant by that wasn't forget it as in pretend it didn't happen because that can't happen – hell I'm probably the worst person in the world for bottling it up and even I couldn't try to sweep this under the carpet. I meant try to put it from your mind, don't think about it for now; we've got visitors soon, not to mention mum as you said, we can't afford something like this to dominate our thinking. What did you tell Vector to do when you were finished with him?"

"I..." almost without her thinking about it Rouge's suspicion had flared, "what makes you think I made any suggestions?" Knuckles merely snorted,

"Because you're my wife and I know you too well; what did you say?" _Fair point_; truth be told if she was in his shoes she'd have asked the same question and, at a stretch, have an idea of the answer; _question is, does he?_;

"I told him to go home, sleep it off, oh", the most salient point she'd made earlier burst back to the forefront of her mind and without even thinking about it she brought it forwards, "I told him to tell the others, Mighty and Charm; they've been suffering as badly as he has and I think it did him the world of good now that someone else knows".

"Spread the load", Knuckles agreed before taking in a deep breath, trying just as Rouge was to accept the seemingly impossible at the same time as focus on living a normal life for the next couple of days and weeks, "well, here's hoping with everything I've got that it works; until then though", he gestured towards the front door and the crops he'd recently harvested from the soil of his homeland, the healthy earth that had nurtured them as it had him still clinging to their roots, waiting to be cleaned before they could be enjoyed by the incoming visitors to the guardian's homes, "got a few things to sort out before the weekend gets here; fetch the water and I'll sort out scrubbing the bitter-root".

"Scrubbing roots?" For the first time in what felt like ages Rouge felt herself snickering with laughter, "how did I go from sultry super-spy to stodgy spud-peeler – I don't remember that being in the marital contract".

"Oh Rouge, I'm shocked"; _just play it calm for a minute – that's it_; reeling her in the echidna made sure he had a clear run at the door before finishing, "of all people I'd have expected you to check the small-print".

He was gone and away out the door just as Rouge caught up with what he'd said and tore after him, previous woes, if not forgotten, then at least delayed in the face of this latest insult; running to chase after the errant husband, the bat was distracted from her troubles in time enough to prepare for the weekend ahead.

A/N: And prepare they must, for the weekend is fast sneaking up on them. More importantly though, the lock is broken and the secret is out; how will this impact on the group as a whole, and will it finally allow this entire situation to be resolved without further bloodshed?


	16. Chapter 16 Spreading the Load

Chapter 16 – Spreading the Load.

A/N: I know, it's taken me forever to do this due to my new hours and my new post; believe me I am still working when I get the chance, problem is I don't get many chances to work these days. Oh well, that just makes the times I get a chapter up all the sweeter; I hope my work still reads as sweetly for the reviewers:

MS – Despite it all I do enjoy my life; hope this is evident in the writing I'm doing thus far. And don't worry; at least now the cliff-hanger's over…

_He's late_; the observation chimed in Mighty's mind but she merely accepted it meekly; neither curiosity nor concern clouded her thinking as she stayed where she was, sat on the living room's comfy chair watching nothing in particular on television, taking so little in from the screen in front of her it might as well have been switched off. Hearing the fading thump of the hidden panel in the basement sealing off the priceless secret the guardian's father, the enigmatic scientist Locke, had installed to allow the four-Mobian team to do their job properly, Mighty lolled her head towards the lounge door, idly betting with herself how long it would be until the crocodile set foot in this room – would he come straight in and plop himself down or would he swing by the kitchen first to rustle himself a snack? She wasn't sure, there was an equal chance of each and in perfect honesty she didn't care either way; it was only when the door to her drab little kingdom opened and she saw him come in that she realised she was half-right in her predictions.

"Hey Vec", she raised a hand in a half-hearted salutation, "much going on?"

"Nah, no' really", his reply was brisk as, denied the use of his optics, the crocodile strained his other senses to determine if the others were present in the house or no; _depending where they are depends how easy or hard this next bit is_; "anyone else 'bout?" To his relief Mighty, much as she was able to owing to the constrictions of her species, shook her head,

"Nah, Esp's gone shopping to pick up some more of that tea she's become fond of and no idea where Charm's buzzed off to. Still, long as it keeps him out of mischief". Vector nodded, relieved that this much at least had gone right for him,

"We can but 'ope", the crocodile echoed her statement, using it as cover to shimmy forwards, gradually approaching the armadillo without her sluggish senses even realising she was being stalked; only when it was too late did the penny finally drop. Looking up from her seat suddenly Mighty opened her mouth to say something only to close it again, seeing at this distance what she had not at longer range; it was immediately obvious something was up but before she could even begin to question what it was, the crocodile had spoken,

"Rouge knows Mighty".

XXX

As he'd suspected, mostly because he'd seen and felt it in himself over the past few hours recrimination at the shrine trying to compose himself enough to face the outside world again, Mighty's reaction to this news was ambivalence, torn between shock and relief at the news. Her expression was one of open-mouthed horror, eyes staring at and through the crocodile in front of her as she tried to absorb two gargantuan truths in the same moment; firstly and most immediately, the knowledge that the secret was out, even to a very limited degree, was a potent impact on its own, but that was before the imagination seized on such knowledge and ran away with it, spinning a dizzying yarn of possible fears, confusions and consequences simultaneously. However even as it did so, even as Vector watched on, those stories failed to take root, withered and died under the dehydrating effect of Mighty's logic; _elliptical as that might be at times – gotta love that armadillo way of thinking_; the thought made him smile even as the Mobian in front of him started to relax slightly, the tension draining out of her as she realised, just as Vector had, that what was done was done, nothing she could do now was going to turn back time and stop the admission from happening; all she could do now was try to work out how best to deal with the aftermath.

"How..." she wetted suddenly dry lips, mind still whirling hopelessly, "...Rouge knows?"

"Yeah, y'know what it's like", the crocodile nodded sadly, still a little ashamed that it had been him who'd spilt the beans, "she made me an offer I really couldn't refuse". Mighty squinted up at him suspicious,

"What kind of offer?" Goggling Vector pointed at his stomach, wishing his scales would show up the bruises as easily as normal Mobian skin could,

"The you-tell-me-what's-going-on-and-I-stop-beating-seven-shades-of-hell-out-of-you kind", he grunted, stomach still sore after the bat had all but driven her toe-cap through it, "le's jus' say I found it prudent t'come t'an amicable 'greement and tell 'er the truth, on the proviso it'd go no further'an 'er an' 'er other 'alf, y'unnerstand?"

"I can guess", Mighty agreed, shaking her head as the relief finally began to outweigh her sense of shame, her worry that her team mate might suffer because of some failing on the part of her or the remainder of her team, "so, just her and Knuckles then?"

"Jus' the two of 'em", he confirmed wearily, turning around to sit down on one of the armrests of the armadillos' seat; she shifted her arm to let him do so, her hand falling softly to land just above his knee, rubbing it gently as she felt his hand in turn cover the back of her own, the two of them comforting each other in this new grief, teamwork the only way they could survive against the cruelties the world forced them to endure even now, "it were gonna 'appen Might, sooner or later it were 'evitable; dun blame yerself, jus' let it be a weight off yer mind – it is f'me now, it can't be anythin' else".

Mighty didn't reply to this and Vector hadn't expected her to; as he knew now from painful experience, it took time to adjust to a shift in perceptions this violent, though truth be told the knowledge that someone else now knew their secret was nowhere near as tectonically potent as the secret itself. He just stayed where he was, quiet and unobtrusive, her hand still encased comfortingly by his own as she stayed seated in chair, absorbing the latest in a long series of bombshell explosions with nothing more than her own mind, her own sense of logic and the close support of a well-trusted, much-loved friend to help pull her through. Vector's thumb slowly caressed the back of the armadillos' fingers, a wistful half-smile on his face as his vision glazed over, staring into the middle distance and having to pull himself back from the cusp of sleep on more than one occasion; _man, about to drop off there – maybe Rouge was right, I need to get my head down_.

"I", Mighty wiped her hand across her eye line, "I suppose it was always going to happen – I mean we couldn't have held it in forever, no-one could". She looked up at him, crimson rimming her irises; Vector smirked slightly,

"Dust in yer eye?"

"Something like that", she admitted wryly, rubbing her eyes again before heaving in a deep sigh, "Vec, I don't know if this is right or not but it's true; I just feel so much...better, if that's the right way to say it".

"I unnerstand", the crocodile assured her, "it's relief; it's not jus' our problem now. Me ol' dad used t'tell me a load spread is a load off yer back; neva knew 'ow right 'e were up 'til now. Any'ow, y'ad anythin' t'eat yet?" The armadillo shook her head,

"No, been too tired to cook up 'til now", Vector didn't move as the grip on his hand increased in pressure, Mighty using his arm to pull herself to her feet, "come on, let's get something vaguely edible on the table; leave it to me, I could do with some practise cooking again".

"I'll vouch fer that Might, nuthin' too fancy mind", he cautioned with a smile, swatting her shoulder and shrugging his own as she glared up daringly, "dun wanna trubble me digestive system after Rouge jus' beasted it, better keep it plain an' simple".

"Plain and simple", Mighty parroted before turning away with a snort of humour, "guess the old saying holds true – the way to a man's heart is through his stomach; plain and simple", she shook her head at the same time as bracing herself and putting on a burst of speed, hearing the crocodile thundering up to try and catch her out before she made it to the kitchen, "suits you down to the ground".

He caught up with her just as she burst into the kitchen, she felt twin grips on the sides of her shell, fought to keep her feet on the ground and prevent him hoisting her up and into the air, laughing and crying as she struggled and not knowing why; even when she managed to rip her way out of his hold partially, one of his hands losing purchase and allowing her to spin on the spot, fold up into him. Without thinking about it, as though this had been the whole, singular point of the entire mad exercise, Mighty threw her arms around the crocodiles' middle and roared, the entire cauldron of emotions long buried up until now finally allowed to boil up and out of her. As Vector had before her, she found herself at a loss to know what was right or wrong now, it was all too raw, too vivid in her mind; it had to be released, set free at last before she could think of how to recover the weeks of her life she had lost up until now. And as Vector bent forwards at the waist to let his arms drop to cover her shoulders, fondling the tips of her ears with his fingers to try and soothe her just as Rouge had him, there was nothing she could have done to even begin to restrain the release of emotion this potent, so she did nothing but weep and rejoice, even in the same set of tears.

XXX

Fortune, it seemed, was in a rare good mood with the Chaotix this day of all days; as Mighty managed to notice on the calendar when unrolling some kitchen tissues to blow her tear-blocked nose, Esprana wasn't due back until much later than she'd realised earlier – tonight was one of her new club nights and the chameleon hadn't missed a single one yet. This gave them a clear run of at least another two hours on top of the lengthy absence they'd been expecting, more than enough to explain the situation to the final member of the Chaotix who needed to know the sudden change in circumstances and, more importantly, help him sift through the wreckage of his shattered mental walls in the aftermath to pick out the positives and show how this represented a turning point for them all, the start of a path to pastures new and, more importantly, pastures brighter than the doldrums they'd been forced to inhabit recently,

"So", Charmy broke off to sniff deeply, not entirely convinced yet, "Rouge, she was hitting you?" Vector nodded,

"Yeah, an'a good thing too", his eyes dropped downwards; _how close did I come to losing some of you today?_; "I were 'bout t'start usin' me own fingers fer toothpicks". Both other Mobians' heads shot up, Mighty in particular taking on a distinctly unhealthy ashen pallor,

"You...you what?"

"Well, I 'ad jus' shoulder-barged 'er down the stone steps, me mind weren't quite right", he explain, trying to brazen it out and inwardly breathing a sigh of relief when a couple of spots of colour reappeared in the armadillo's cheeks, "I dunno 'xactly what were goin' on up there bu' I were ready t'do it; lucky Rouge's clod-'opper landin' where it did made me lose me appetite".

"First time for everything", Charmy muttered, almost without meaning to; hearing that remark, just the edge of it, seemed to set off a chain-reaction in the crocodiles' mind that only his normally-inexpressive face and a lifetimes' worth of experience managed to conceal, and even then it was touch-and-go as to whether the eruptions would remain under wraps; _first time in how long he's come out with something like that? It's finally happening, this proves it, it must – we really are going upwards and onwards from this...huh?_; "hey, you listening?"

"Uh? Oh sorry", must as he was able to, the crocodile gave a small, abashed grin, "lost in thought". Charmy tried to scowl his displeasure at being ignored but couldn't hold it, choosing instead to repeat his question rather than lose face now by giving in to helpless laughter,

"I said, what did you tell her? How much does batgirl know about...it all", he finished uncomfortably, the idea that others outside their circle knew the truth of the matter still lying ill with him. Vector noticed but said nothing, trusting in time to bring the bee around to the stone-cold truth of the matter and understand that it was for the best that they were all released from their shackles, however sudden or painful such a sundering had been for them all.

"Everything", Mighty spoke after a second, seeing Vector wasn't going answer immediately, "from what I know scaly wasn't shy with the details; best way to think about it is that everything we know she knows, and so will Knuckles by now if I'm any judge; oh come on", she sighed as Charmy's head and antenna shot bolt upright, horror etched onto his expression as though beaten there with a chisel, "they're husband and wife Charmy – no secrets in a marriage, or that's what mum told me anyway".

The explanation worked, at least in part; certainly the bee no longer looked like he was going to keel off his seat with a cardiac arrest, though he didn't look entirely convinced by her rationale either; still, he either realised there was nothing he could do about it or his mind was so blank with shock that the thought no longer registered – whatever the reason, he stopped worrying that particular bone in order to move on to fresher meat for his questioning,

"So", he pronounced the word slowly, his gaze turning to Vector now, intense but not accusing as it scrutinised the crocodile before him, "what did you tell her?" He shrugged,

"Everythin', or, much o'it as I could remember", trying to bully his brain to illustrate the recent past and shine a light on what he actually had said during that torturous castigation of his soul earlier, "umm, said Esp were a girl, obviously; 'plained what 'appened at Christmas up t'now, what we'd dun 'bout it, 'cludin' that 'Last Supper' as it were", Charmy nodded in understanding even as the top of his shoulder began to throb again in sympathetic pain, "an' 'ow things are goin' now – not much more I coulda dun really". Charmy kept his gaze level for just a minute longer before finally dropping his eyes,

"I guess not", he mumbled, though before either of the others could say anything he'd raised his head again and asked a different question, one that again sent the search-teams of Vector's memory scrambling for an answer, "what did she say about it all".

"I, er"; _good point, well presented – just wish I knew what the answer was_; "I dun really 'member, oh", one salient point jumped up in his mind, the only one really relevant at this time making itself heard in no uncertain terms in his mind, "though she did say t'let you guys know. I mean", he tried to elaborated as both Mighty and Charmy were looking at him nonplussed, "she said y'should know, it'd 'elp ya like it 'elped me".

"And it has", the armadillo responded with a weary nod, strangely tired now as weeks of troubled sleep seemed to be creeping up on her in the aftermath of her cataclysmic emotional upheaval, "it was something we all needed to know I think, it wasn't going to stay a secret forever".

"No but we were hoping Esp would be the one to break it", Charmy broke in, trying to sound rueful of a missed opportunity rather than outright disappointed they'd failed in this objective at least, "still, what's done's done; not like we can go back in time, clap our hands over batgirls' ears and sing la-la-la until you'd finished your breakdown is it?"

"Fraid not", Vector answered with a sigh, heaving himself upright and looking around for something that could count as dinner – for some reason his appetite had perked up over the last couple of hours, something he couldn't remember happening as much over the last few weeks, "now, le's get sum chow an' stop thinkin' 'bout 'istory; le's work out what we're gunna tell Esp when she get 'ome 'stead".

"Nothing".

As it sometimes had in the past, the answer appeared in Charmy's mind almost the instant the question was asked; he could never explain such strokes of genius when they did occur but, as they had an uncanny knack of striking right at a critical moment such as now, he tried not to complain about it too much. Even as the other two watched on in amazement, the bee merely shrugged his shoulders and stood up, glancing at the cupboards and the fridge, one side of his mind putting the finishing touches to his argument while the other half wondered idly what was for lunch,

"Think about it; Vec", the crocodile grunted at the sound of his name, still trying to absorb his younger team mate's sudden, completely screwball idea, "I trust you told Rouge to keep this a secret – I mean, she knows Esp wants to tell everyone about this in her own time right?"

"Yeah", the crocodile breathed before shaking his head, seeming to get something like a coherent thought back in his head, "yeah, I told 'er tha' much; she said she'd keep a lid on it fer'us".

"Good", the bee nodded, all of it now making sense again, "in that case we just keep things as they are; Esp need never know about this until it's all over and she's got it off her chest in her own time. If we can just keep our heads now it'll all go a lot smoother I reckon – you never know", once more the imp of inspiration sprinkled a pinch of pixie-dust between his antenna and he let it sink right in, "one of the guardians might be able to come up with the answer for us, and let's face it, we could use all the help we can get right now".

Silence greeted his announcement and seemed to stretch itself along and into eternity; in fact the bee was on the verge of giving up on the other two and start rifling the cupboards himself when there was a swooshing noise from behind his former seat; before he could turn into the threat something had wrapped around his whole body as tightly as a bear-trap and he felt himself lifted up and off his feet. Knowing he was powerless to fight it, the bee tried to relax as much as possible and leant backwards into Mighty's arms as she congratulated his audacious precociousness,

"Sometimes", the words were breathed into his ear, the wind from their passing itching over his closest antennae so close were the armadillo's lips, "just sometimes, you really can just break the mould Charmy; that was a piece of absolute brilliance".

"Yeah well", catching a glimpse of Vector from the corner of his eye, the bee decided to try and give a little credit where it was due, "when you learn from the best it's bound to catch on sometime. And anyway", he tried to lean his head back to see the armadillo from the corner of his eye; as the back of his head touched something thin and immoveable though, he knew he was going to be cheated in that desire as he slipped the last words from his lips as a whisper, "even if I couldn't break the mould, why do you think we've got you on the team?"

In retrospect Charmy would freely admit it might have been a wiser idea to wait until he was in a safer environment before trying a quip like that one, but following his most recent revelations he'd always argue he couldn't really have blamed his well of inspiration for running dry at the moment. At that precise moment, however, with Mighty miffed by his words and attempting to reduce his exoskeleton to the consistence of soup just by closing her arms, it didn't stop him cursing his errant tongue with all the air he could spare from his bursting lungs.

XXX

Almost dancing down the pavement Esprana reflected on the night just past and found herself almost laughing at her earlier display of nerves; despite her reservations about emerging from the sheltered cocoon of individual training with Tsun to joining the rest of the wholly-echidna class, the evening had passed without a hitch; in fact she'd done so well as to earn Laws' compliment after dropping him on his tail with a particularly whiplashed foot-sweep. Despite being the only non-echidna in the group, and after weathering the initial stares from the younger members of the group; _though to be fair, to most of the population up here I am something to look at – I mean, how cool must it be for a youngster to see someone with no fur, not to mention she can change colour to boot_; she'd slotted into place almost perfectly, the others in the class who ranged from young teenagers looking for something to do every night to an old couple who had, according to Law, been there since the club had opened its doors, correcting her when her technique had wavered and praising her when she got it right. _Which_; a little pride crept across her thinking, an almost imperceptible flush of rose deepening her natural colour as she turned the memory of the night over in her mind; _more often than not, it was_.

She stopped suddenly in a patch of street lighting, the images of throws and break-falls, rough and tumble with Mobians of a similar vein and desire flooded for a brief moment under a wave of melancholy as a question she'd both asked and answered so many times in her own mind – if her life in some parts was so perfect, why wasn't it so in the most important parts? The answer was as simple as the question and at least as bitter; _because of me – because I haven't told anyone yet_; her hands curled into fists as a shuddering breath snaked its way into her lungs, throat constricted by a sudden, internal pressure. The chameleon stood tall for a minute with her eyes screwed as tightly shut as she could make them, resisting the build-up of tension in her throat, her chest, her heart – the aforementioned organ bobbed harshly in her chest once, twice, then it was settled again, beating in her breast as it should have done, as though nothing were amiss. But the feeling remained, lodged again in her mind ever more clearly than before, the wound still painful and blistered with the salt of knowing that her lack of moral fibre had and was still injuring her friends at least as much as it was her; a septic sore eating away at the Chaotix as a whole and destroying the unity of the team she loved far more than her original family.

But something was changing, she could feel it the same way a leaf knew a changing of the breeze; a critical mass was fast approaching, a singular event that would tip the scale enough to either break her silence, or break the Chaotix as she knew it. The time was coming, she knew that, but her courage, the one aspect she had prided herself on for such a number of years, where was that now she needed it more than ever before? It was an irony so great she would have laughed had it not sounded so bitter in her own ears; as she was discovering only now it took far more courage to face up to the truth than it did to hide away in a comforting lie, and it was bravery she couldn't muster, not yet at any rate. _But I will have it_; once more her fists clenched, this time with a determined grit of her teeth and a steely glint in her auburn eyes; _no matter what that tipping point is I will be there for it_; without thinking about it consciously her left foot whipped back behind her right, opened hands thrust up and forwards, palms out as a challenge to the future; _and I will be ready for it – I'll look out for the three Mobians who saved me, no matter how much it hurts, or what it costs me to do so!_

It was in this frame of mind that she arrived back home, the front door clattering open and for a second she stood framed there, some wistful part of her mind wondering if, with the obligatory pistol at her hip, bullwhip in her hand and cowboy hat perched low over her forehead, she'd have resembled the famous sheriff Rawshire, immortalised forever on the front covers of the paperback series she seemed to have inherited from Charmy's old cardboard box in the attic. The illusion was so appealing and, in that captured instant of time, so apparently possible that she fancied she could smell the thick tabac smoke wafting through the saloon door and was looking forwards to a refreshing slug of whisky from the bottle, when there was an answering slam of wood on wood from somewhere close by and she found herself catapulted back to reality just in time to avoid a probing glance from Rawshires' previous owner by stepping inside and shutting the front door behind her,

"Hey Esp", one more her innards gave a little twist in guilt; she was far from the only one to be suffering from her lack of moral courage, "how'd the night go; first night with everyone wasn't it?"

"Yep, just like being with Tsun really", the chameleon remarked, slipping her bag off her shoulder with a grateful sigh, "everyone's better than me I'm first to admit"; _first time for everything_; usually Charmy found himself agreeing with his initial thought, even if it was perhaps a little harsh; _last time I checked the thought someone could beat you at anything would've driven you to half-freeze yourself to death_; "but they all helped me out as and when I needed it, and the sweep that put Law on his backside", she inhaled sharply, one knife-edge of a hand cutting the air about as well as the back of her leg had chopped through the echidna's knees, "fantastic, buckled him completely".

"So", reading the situation as best he could in the circumstances Charmy left a short but pronounced pause to let his team mate enjoy her glory before trying to clarify the situation, "you won then?"

"Ah", that was the question to kill the moment; the same hand that had recently cleaved the air asunder now reached around to cup the back of her frill, a typical sign of chameleonic embarrassment as she relived the latter stages of that duel, "not, not exactly – I came second, put it like that".

"Out of how many?"

"Er, two; here", trying desperately to change tact and avoid catching the bee's growing smirk at the same time, she glanced over his shoulder as though looking for someone, "are the other two about?"

"Somewhere", the bee managed to choke through lips bitten rigid to avoid snorting with laughter at his team mates' disingenuity with the truth; after a minutes work he managed to sort out the worst of it and look back up at her again, shaking his head slightly, "second out of two huh? Oh well, better than finishing last I suppose".

"Something like that", she muttered under her breath before squeezing pat him, not wanting him to see the sheepish grin that had peeped up onto her lips; after all, she might have been trying to change for the better, but there was no real need for everyone else to know how well she was improving just yet – after all, she did have a reputation to maintain.

Poking her nose, or to be more precise the sliver of protruding bone that stood atop her almost-invisible nostrils, around her bedroom door she nodded to herself; the sight of a large lump rolled in thick blankets on top of the bed on her right told her where Mighty was, and as an added bonus negated the risk of her walking in on her at an inopportune moment. It had happened a couple of times in the past, she'd barged in just as the armadillo was drying herself off or getting changed leading to harsh words and crimson faces, especially in the early days when she'd been sour and sore at what she'd perceived to be Vector kicking her out of the room they'd shared straight after her secret had been revealed. The fact that the armadillo had put up with her abrasive manner at all had been a testament to the patience of the Chaotix as a whole; how she'd kept her hands down in those first and furious days eluded Esprana completely; _not that I'm ungrateful mind_. Hindsight being the twenty-twenty vision it always was, the chameleon knew she had nothing but just cause to venerate the soft touch the team had used to contain her; had their places been swapped she'd have either gone psychotic or suicidal trying to put up with any of the other three behaving the same way she had.

Turning away and trying to banish such dismal thoughts, she opened the airing cupboard and placed her bag carefully inside, opening the zip a little way to dry out any spillages from her water bottle that may have occurred either on the way to or back from the little gym she now visited every time her club was on. Satisfied, she headed for the bathroom, kicked off her shoes and gloves, hit the heat up as high as it would go to bring a bit more energising heat to her body and jumped into the bath, hitting the power at the same moment. The warmth was delicious, washing away all her stresses and strains, but even as it did so and she relaxed to some degree, still the little worm of doubt wriggled in the back of her mind; the worry that the silence still endured nagging at the back of her mind and asking questions that, for the moment, she had no answer to.

XXX

By the middle of the morning both were decided; with a single clap from his massive hands Knuckles brought both his own and his wifes' frantic scurrying around to an abrupt halt, the work that had needed to be done was finished utterly, and a fair few other jobs had been tidied away besides,

"That'll do Rouge", the echidna called through the window, continuing a minute later when the bats' face appeared in the glass, "everything's about as well dusted, polished and/or varnished as it's ever likely to get in here". The white face gave a brief nod and disappeared; Knuckles merely stood where he was, monitoring the other guardians' progress through the house with his ears alone – there was the squeak as the front door opened; _I keep meaning to oil that – oh well, I'll remember next time_; the tapping noise as she took her shoes off just inside, the very faint padding of her socked feet as they darted over the floors he'd meticulously swept up; he looked up just as she opened the bedroom door,

"How'd you get on outside?"

"Same", she nodded, stepping inside and stretching off, "couple of branches needed pruning back, bit of grass here and there I yanked up, beyond that all's well".

"Get the bulbs buried all right?"

"Yep, wrapped those leaves around them like you said; still don't get what that's for though". Knuckles smiled, this the one area he might have justifiably claimed he bettered his wife as a result of living semi-feral all his life,

"The leaves stop the bulbs growing into trees; I don't know how it works scientifically but I always think it's because the bulbs, wrapped up in those leaves like parcels, don't realised they're underground and don't take root; just as well, you can't eat them when they start germinating". The bat nodded, her expression still troubled as she tried to mull the idea over but still found a problem with it,

"But won't the leaves rot in the soil?"

"Not those ones", the echidna informed her, holding his paw aloft as though asking for a pause in which to explain his answer, "you've felt them haven't you, remember how waxy they were...?" Rouge smiled, her hands falling together in front of her, a clap of understanding,

"Of course, the wax keeps the water out – so why haven't we got them over the roof if they're water-proof?" Knuckles raised an eyebrow, his tone a sudden, sardonic deadpan,

"You remember trying to harvest them?"

"Ah, I see your point", Rouge shuddered at the memory; not only where the leaf stalks thick and very flexible, making cutting through them a pain at the best of times, the sap that leaked from such amputations could blistered exposed skin and bleach any fur or clothing it touched to a very fetching shade of pale green, "how many you reckon we'd need?"

"Far too many; anyway, aside from that", the echidna put his hands on his hips for a minute before striding forwards, towards the door, "I reckon we're about as ready as we're ever going to be, and even if we have let something slip I'm sure they won't mind..."

"Won't mind", the bat muttered darkly under her breath, "probably not, but keep quiet about it, not a chance – sorry Knucks, carry on". She almost blushed as she realised she'd been thinking out loud and her husband was now regarding her with a very penetrating eye indeed; thankfully after a moment of such scrutiny he picked up where he'd left off, though he was always careful to keep half an eye on his audience in case her mind started wandering again,

"...won't mind, no they won't – besides, they'll have seen mum long before they get here and that'll be sure to knock something off their observation skills".

"Even Sonic?" Despite herself the bat found that hard to digest, "Didn't think the intricacies of the pregnant state would be his cup of tea, it's certainly not yours; ever heard a grown echidna scream, just show him a book of baby pictures". The guardian shivered, expression torn halfway between horror and half-acceptance of the idea that, if ever he wanted to bring a new life into the world, this was the way it was going to happen, like it or otherwise,

"Don't, those snaps will haunt me to my dying day", he assured her, grimacing in distaste as the bat tried hard to stifle laughter – she perked up, however, when he regained his original thread and shrugged, recalling something about one of his closest friends that baffled him even now, "but no, don't ask me how but Sonic's great with kids, and their mothers for that matter".

"Probably because he's still one himself; okay, okay", she threw her hands up as Knuckles dropped an expression that radiated the word 'behave', "I promised I wouldn't razz him up, just as long as Amy keeps him on a tight leash we'll be fine".

"By the Master I hope so; I've never been so embarrassed in my life when I kicked that door in and saw you lying there in Sonic's arms, moaning sweet nothings and generally making a spectacle of yourself, and in public too".

This time the bat did blush, there was nothing else she could do when under attack from both the memory and Knuckles' evil grin; her gaze dropped to the floor as though trying to smoulder a way through the stout wooden floorboards as she tried to grate a reply through gritted teeth,

"Shut up – I still owe him big-time for that".

"But not this time you don't", the echidna reminded her, wagging a warning finger that she nearly snapped at semi-playfully, "remember Lara's got her ear to the ground on this one and take it from me nothing slips under her radar for long".

"So I've heard; hey", the bat's sigh was broken suddenly as she registered Knuckles moving again, this time towards the door, "where are you sloping off to; I said the outside was done".

"And I heard you", he assured her, smile somehow not showing his elation that he'd managed to nail her with another well-timed quip; _this is a habit I could get used to_; "I'm going to Haven".

That caught her a little by surprise; as a general rule the bat knew her partner tended to avoid his fathers' side of the family as much as was politely possible, his relationships with most of his grandfathers best described as cool but cordial. Him seeing them on what appeared to be an unscripted, unscheduled visit was a far cry from what Rouge had come to expect – if nothing else, Knuckles was usually a complete stickler for protocol.

"What for – any particular reason?"

"Nah, just letting them know we're both not going to be available this weekend, just in case ol' grand-daddy Spectre had any errands ready to drop on us; come on, it wouldn't be the first time", and just by good fortune it wasn't; though the seat of the Brotherhood of Guardians was usually a completely self-sufficient world within the world of Angel Island, that hadn't stopped the current head of Knuckles' very extended paternal family occasionally sticking his helmeted head up above the parapet to issue some edict or other. _Though to be fair_; it wasn't all that often Knuckles found himself defending his seventh-father, though that was probably due to Spectre not needing to be defended very often – despite being deeply advanced into his second century of age, the ebon-furred echidna was still capable of keeping even his fractious, feuding family under his thumb, for short periods of time at least.

"Fair enough; tell the guys I said hi", Rouge's voice broke through the guardian's trance – as he looked over the bat glanced around and grabbed the nearest towel, casually slinging it over her shoulder as she moved over to the recently-carved wardrobe on the other side of the room, "urgh, I need a cold shower after that lot; I might be done by the time you get back, I might not". The echidna grinned, standing up in turn and playfully yanking her towel, half-spinning her around with the unexpected resistance,

"If I were a gambling man I'd put my bets on not", with a laugh he let go, then darted backwards as the miffed bat flicked the white bathing implement at him, the edge of it cracking as it came perilously close to drilling him a new naval, "alright, alright I'm going – no need to get nasty".

"You've never seen me nasty yet Knucklehead", Rouge threatened, wrapping her weapon around her fists menacingly at the same time as dropping into a fighting stance, "now get out of here before I break that record, and probably you into the bargain". The guardian snorted, pointing at her now-padded gloves at the same time as sneer lightly,

"You can dream"; before she could respond to that last piece of wit, he was gone and away, Rouge left behind to glower at his sudden disappearance before checking her watch, realising she was running a little late for a meeting of her own and, because of this, rushing around her bedroom to snatch up what she needed before heading for one of the nearby streams she and her husband used for their everyday ablutions.

XXX

Despite her haste to be refreshed and change her clothing, however, Rouge was careful not to shoot her bolt too early as she knew that Knuckles going to Haven always involved a little detour for him. Due to her wings and the height advantage that came from possessing them, the bat never had a problem spotting the tell-tale landmarks that pointed the way to the secure subterranean fortress her in-laws maintained; the same couldn't be said, however, for her rather more earth-bound husband. The echidna always insisted that Haven could somehow shift around the floor of the island as no matter how many times he paced it, he could never find his way exactly there from the small clearing where he'd built his lodge – the only place, in his eyes, where there was an eternal straight line to the Brotherhoods' door was from the entrance to the shrine of the Master Emerald. Therefore, rather than waste time getting lost, the guardian always travelled the shrine first and went to see his grandparents from there; as Spectre had so often said, the path of least resistance was often around obstacles rather than through them; _unlike Thunderhawk of course_; stooping to avoid a low branch, the crimson hued guardian smirked slightly; _where, according to him, the path of least resistance is often through your enemies_.

That much, at least as far as his lavender sixth-father was concerned, was certainly true; Knuckles and the rest of the Chaotix had yet to deliver the first black blot on Thunderhawk's impeachable score card, despite repeated attempts at trying. However, tempting as it was to have another try today, Knuckles' mind wasn't on a fight this time; instead it was worrying on a particular bone of contention that had been lodged in the back of his mind ever since Rouge had inadvertently brought it up a few days earlier. Think and ponder as he might, the guardian could not rationally explain an answer to the bats' question and it aggravated him, especially as it was a fairly basic and simple request to try and answer; how had he ever learnt to speak, or for that matter do basic tasks like climb, tie shoelaces and the whole gamut of everyday tasks he took for granted? He couldn't explain it himself – all he knew was that one cursed day he'd crossed paths with a bloated whale of a human and had been able to communicate with him despite having never spoken a word up until that point – but maybe his grandfathers would know; _after all, they've surely done the same thing I have sooner or later_. Ducking inside the cave where the elevator that led down to the hidden base in the bowels of Angel Island was concealed, Knuckles mulled his point over in one part of his mind while the other half tried some last-minute rehearsals of the lines he was supposed to speak when he touched down inside Haven – as with most guardian-related things, protocol was everything. _Though of course_; surrounded by rattling cogs and trying to keep his balance as the left descended in the jerky, unbalancing motion he remembered so well Knuckles found himself sighing as he was reminded yet again of how fractious his extended family actually was; _how closely I stick to the script depends on the welcoming committee. Thunderhawk couldn't care less most of the time, Sabre's pretty much the same and I doubt Athair would understand it at the best of times – Sojourner on the other hand...oh well, no-one's perfect I guess...huh?_

He'd had his mouth open to speak to whichever of his grandfathers had been detailed to deal with the intruder into their sanctum, but as he looked along the straight corridor before him there was no-one there; unease prickled the nape of Knuckles' neck uncomfortably as he narrowed his eyes and took a cautious step forwards. This was unusual and the echidna didn't like it; Mobians as set in their ways as the former guardians of the Master Emerald didn't tend to break from tradition unless it was strictly necessary, and as far as Knuckles could remember whenever anyone had had reason to arrive at Haven, even slightly unannounced as he was, there had always been one of the Brotherhood there to greet them. Stepping down the corridor slowly, alert for any indications of danger, Knuckles tried to figure out any circumstances that might have interrupted the normal net of telepathy that the ancient echidnas had cast over Haven, but nothing he could think of would explain such a sudden moment of weakness. There was no damage he could see, and even if a foe as formidable as the Dark Legion had tried to storm the base, he was certain there would have been enough time for at least one of the Brotherhood to send an SOS to himself and the Chaotix. So why was...

So deep was his thought that he wasn't aware of the approaching footsteps from the corridor off to his right until someone all but ran past him; reflexes taking over, Knuckles shot an arm forwards and braced himself, other fist cocked backwards and ready to let fly. Something impacted hard on his clothesline and bounced off; he sprang forwards from his concealment and only just managed to divert his strike in time; jarring pain ran the length of his arm as the spikes on his fists embedded themselves in the wall, rather than into his fifth-fathers skull,

"Sojourner", he grated the name through gritted teeth, cradling his aching hand into his chest, "what's going on?"

"Knuckles?" The other echidna, the smallest and thinnest of the Brotherhood with a pedantic streak a mile wide, seemed to shake off his shock at the sound of his fifth-sons' voice; when he started speaking, however, the day just got even more surreal as far as Knuckles was concerned – Sojourner was occasionally excitable it was true, but what could possibly make him panic as he was now?

"You're here, good, good you're here – you can get in touch with those, uh, those friends, the ones who help with the emerald? Get them, we need all the help we can...?"

"Fifth-father", shock rendering him incapable of doing anything else but shout, Knuckles tried to inject a stream of sense into this sea of madness boiling before him, "calm down, what's going on here? I just came to talk and you're running around like a headless chicken – where's everyone else?"

"Around the island"; for a second Knuckles was tempted to dismiss this as another raving but the expression of control that seemed to be descending over the older Mobians' face dissuaded him from doing so and, if anything, only increased the sinking feeling in his stomach; _what's got them abroad like this? It's got to be serious, and how are the Chaotix caught up in it all?_; "I never thought I'd say this but we need all the help we can get now; get those four bods of yours and I'll tell grandfather Spectre to catch up with you, I think he's patrolling the outskirts of Echidnopolis now, he'd be the closest".

"What for?" Knuckles knew enough to recognise a crisis when he saw one but that didn't mean he was going to go charging in blind, or risk his friends in the same manner, "What's happened?"

Not a second after Sojourner had given a chilling smile and delivered a succinct, two-word answer Knuckles was hurtling back towards the elevator, fumbling in his pocket for his phone with one hand and crossing the fingers of the other, praying to any deity who might have been listening and of a benevolent enough bent to lend a hand that what was bound to come next would prove only humiliating to his already-battered pride of the Brotherhood of Guardians.

XXX

Though she had a window of opportunity to work in, Rouge was still enough of a consummate professional to make sure she didn't abuse any hint of slack in her leash; she was still towelling the last of the wash-water from her ears when she stepped into the shadow of the shrine's interior, shivering at the sudden plunge into darkness even as she threw the last few leaves she'd been using to blow away in the breeze. The bat paused just long enough to compose her own mind before striding inside as though she'd not taken so much as a breath out of place, nodding to the Mobian currently on duty and following his ascent with her eyes as Charmy buzzed upwards, waving a greeting as he descended to the floor again,

"Hey Rouge, how's things; looking forwards to the big arrival?"

"Do turkeys look forwards to Christmas?" She replied sardonically, the unwelcome reminder once more pranging her pride as Sonic's smug expression once more ballooned upwards in her mind; _I still need to find what his weak spot is, he knows mine – with Knuckles it's the neck, Tails isn't keen on his namesakes being pulled on and Cream turns to putty if you can get hold of Cheese – what's Sonic got that I can crack into like that?_; "Anyway, much as it's possible I'm trying to forget that; how are you lot getting on now?"

"Better", Charmy explained tiredly, running his hands over his face as he spoke, "she's a lot more relaxed now, why I'm not so sure but I'm grateful for it all the same; the problem is, well, it's not so much of a problem really", he gritted his teeth as he tried to come up with words to illustrate the dilemma, "it's hard to explain".

"So I guessed", Rouge smiled, leaning against the nearest wall, wings slightly extended to help with her balance and make sure she wouldn't topple over, "just try it".

"It's like...like", the bee took the nearest words that came close and went from there, damn the consequences, "it's like she can't laugh, or seem to have any sort of fun at all; that's not quite got the nail on the head but it's as close as I can come. I mean", he hastened to add, seeing one half of his employers' team start to generate intense interest in his words, "I know it can't be easy, having to own up to what happened and then try to explain it to all of us; give her a little credit at least, she's trying to work things out in her own time but it's not exactly a picnic".

He fell silent at that, giving the bat her own time and space to mull things over; his positive outlook brightened as she brought her shapely hand to her chin; _she really is thinking long and hard about this one_; and only seemed to increase its output when it fell again – just from the expression the bat now wore, the bee could tell something had sparked up in her mind,

"First things first Charm; like you said she's trying".

"Very", he commented without thinking; a second later he was scrabbling for an explanation as he realised how nasty that throwaway line must have sounded, "no, not like that – she's trying very hard, that's what I meant to say". He did his level best to keep a very straight face, not daring to so much as blink until Rouge looked away, seemingly satisfied but still with at least half a sceptical eye in his direction,

"Maybe, so, that's one positive", she carried on, trying to force herself over the roadblock the bee had just shoved in front of her, "but you say she's still having a few problems". Charmy shrugged, trying hard not to make a tiny molehill of a problem such as these trifling issues sound anywhere near as treacherous as the mountainous problems the Chaotix had scaled together in recent weeks,

"Well, not problems per se; I don't think any of us were expecting her to leap out of bed every morning and declare how happy she was to be alive. Espio just wasn't that sort of Mobian, and he's not someone you can let go of all that easily, especially when that's been your stock-in-trade mindset for the better part of a decade".

This Rouge agreed with; she understood at least as well and perhaps even better than most of the chameleon's friends how traumatic living a different kind of life could turn out to be; _luckily in my case_; her eyes softened for a minute, memory relapsing in time as she cleared her work desk for the very last time, shipped all her absolutely essential supplies into a single bag light enough for her to carry on the wing and hitched a lift on a convenient thermal, the updraft sending her spiralling high enough to glide to Angel Island again. It was a journey she'd never looked backwards on once, and since arriving at the latest start in her life she'd not stopped looking forwards to a future together first with her boyfriend, then her fiancée and, finally, her husband; _eventually, though it took a bit of a nudge from the mad...alright, madder-than-usual, branch of the family to set us off in the right direction – cheers for that Dimitri_._ Anyway, back to the matter at hand..._;

"So, Esprana's still got a couple of old hang-overs then; she's changed a lot of habits but not quite changed her skin yet; oh don't, that was..." Too late; all she could do now was hope to look disproving as Charmy fell apart sniggering at her unfortunate choice of words – it was a race to see if she could keep her face straight until he pulled himself together and, luckily for her already dented sense of pride, she won out on this occasion,

"She's changed skin several times batgirl", Charmy managed to splutter over his giggles before heaving in a great lungful of air and seeming to calm himself down, "just not in the way you were thinking about. Not entirely, at least", thinking along these lines seemed to sober the bee up somewhat, driving his chin onto his fist as he pondered what to say next, "but yeah, that's pretty much it; Esprana's her own chameleon now but she's still got shadows of the old Espio about her, if you catch where I'm coming from?"

"I do – like you said though, you were sort of expecting this weren't you?" He nodded, rolling his eyes,

"Too right we were; weren't looking forwards to it like but that's a different story", he chipped in, glancing over to see his audience smirk; _that's a bit better – still got it every now and then_; "but the important thing is she knows it too, and she wants to change herself, that's vital".

Vital was exactly the right word to use in Rouge's opinion; perhaps more than anything else up until this point, the singular fact that had really driven the bat to despair in all she'd heard so far about this bleak and sorry saga was that up until recently Esprana hadn't realised there had been anything wrong with what she'd been doing, either to herself or to the others. Since her eyes had been opened to the damage she'd been doing, the facts of which had been told to the bat in the most vivid and gruesome detail possible and left her nauseous for days afterwards, something else seemed to have awoken within the chameleon herself and was trying to drive her to change for the better; though it was a slow and, as Charmy had pointed out, occasionally frustrating procedure, it was by far and away better than no progress at all; _and we can all do our part to make that change as smooth as possible_; the guardian thought to herself, sidling her eyes around to regard the bee beside her surreptitiously; _though some, as always, much more so than others_.

"Fair enough", the former spy mentioned as though the thought was just occurring to her, "well, all it'll take is time Charmy and let's face it, we've got plenty of that to hand, about all we're rich in; apart from hickory nuts". She pulled a face, the bee snickering,

"Still can't lose the old sweet tooth huh?"

"No and wouldn't want to, least of all seeing what my dearly beloved shovels down his gullet when he can get his hands on it, oh", as if by magic, her left hip began tingling almost as soon as the thought Knuckles wolfing down a plateful of seafood, complete with wince-inducing crunching noises as the echidna hadn't quite got the hang of de-shelling the molluscs before snacking on them, crossed her mind, "excuse me, I appear to be vibrating".

Luckily Rouge turned her shoulder to reach for her phone just in time; Charmy was under no illusion that, had she seen the expression that flashed across his face, she'd have deduced nothing pleasant or pure about the thoughts her last line had sparked off in his head; the fact her suspicions would probably have been well-justified was neither here nor there as the bee attempted to listen in to the half of the conversation he could hear,

"Hi Knucks, what's..." She tailed off; _odd_; seeing this, and the bat's brow furrowing at the same time, made Charmy pay more attention; _Knuckles doesn't usually cut across his missus, probably for a good reason mind_;

"I'm, no I'm not", the quick look she shot his way told him no uncertain terms to keep his mouth shut and immediately he obeyed, his interest only piqued further, "I can get there in a couple of minutes at most, why?" There was a brief period of silence, both bat and bee listening intently, before Rouges' eyes shot wide open and she gasped into her appliance,

"What? Knucks two questions; what are your grandfathers smoking and can I have some – are you bloody serious?" Another brief pause, "Right, well I can, I don't recommend it but...", another pause, Charmy instinctively realising the conversation was coming to a close; whatever the pair of guardians were arguing about was coming to head here and now, "...okay, fine, but if it's anything less than another Metal Overlord heading our way I am going to be a lot less than impressed. See you in a few". With that, she snapped her phone shut and quickly stashed it back in her pocket, looking over at Charmy in time to snatch a few words out before the storm broke,

"Charm don't panic, Knuckles'll..."

What Knuckles was planning to do exactly the bee never found out, for at that precise moment the stillness of the shrine was rent by a collection of sharp, metallic bleeps and Charmy found himself clutching his left wrist, wondering for a second what had stung him before realising with horror what had just happened.

His wristwatch that was far more than a simple timepiece, had spoken, and it had done so with a tone that was only use to convey the direst emergency; _three stings_; the bee felt a cold, hard ball form in his stomach, his mouth running dry; _life, or death_.

XXX

As she'd expected even while the sensations around her hand was dying away there was a static crackle from close by and a minute later Mighty burst into the antechamber, expression worried but determined as she looked around, scanning for enemies. Seeing the other two sat down she opened her mouth to ask the dreaded question; even as she did so, however, Rouge beat her to the punch,

"Don't panic", she raised her hands placatingly, calming the situation even if she didn't have all the details herself, "Knuckles just rang me, told me what he was going to do and he'll get here as soon as he can to explain it. Just sit tight and wait; all I know is something's up with the Brotherhood but I don't know what". The sudden downgrading of the emergency punctured Mighty's mood of panic abruptly; hand squeezing over heart, the armadillo slowly sauntered over to the other two with a smile on her lips,

"Whew, that's a relief; remind me to clip you hubby's ears when I see him", she asked of Rouge off-handedly, the bat having to mask a smirk as her friend scowled mock-threateningly, "just what I wanted first thing in the morning, a heart attack".

"I'm sure he's got a good reason, oh Might", a sudden brainwash washed over Charmy's mind and he fished his phone from his pocket, "better give the other two the heads-up; knowing Esp he'll probably show up with at least seventeen different ways to kill someone if we don't tell him things aren't that bad".

"Nice thinking; I got Vec", Mighty complimented and acted in the same breath; Rouge did nothing but wait as the other Mobians got in touch with their team mates to cool the volatile situation, speaking only when the pair of them had hung up,

"All sorted?"

"Yeah", "Mighty nodded, looking down with half a smile as she slipped her phone back into her pocket, "he's not happy I can tell you; first time he's ever spat out a bacon sandwich in his life". Charmy chortled, clapping both hands over his mouth as he tried to avoid bursting out laughing, the scene dancing in his head as the call shot through the crocodiles' wrist-strap,

"Now that I do believe", Rouge succinctly summed up his imaginations before turning towards him, "so what's the situation with...?" Her speech was interrupted by the sudden zapping of the teleporter pad and the resultant thunder of angry feet; a second later the crocodile himself burst into the main room, chest heaving and a mean look in his eyes,

"Okay, wha's goin' on, where's it all goin' down an' oo's responsible? 'E owes me a bacon butty", his expression soured somewhat, more self-regret than outright rage in his tone as he glanced over, "of all th' things t'go down to, chokin' t'death on a bit o' bread an' bacon – talk about irony".

"Tell me about it, though some people might call it karma", Mighty chipped in, smirking as the crocodile glared over at her, "come on, how many of that poor sandwiches brothers and sisters have you scoffed down over the years; when sandwiches strike back".

"Crocodiles strike back 'arder", the reptile assured her, thumping his stomach with a wolfish grin, "got 'im digestin' down below, should be good fer at least a coupla' hours; long enough t'get this whatever it is sorted I assume?" Rouge nodded, explaining as much as she knew of the bizarre situation,

"I hope so, I've got more important things planned for the rest of the day. Basically all I know is that something's going down with the Brotherhood and somehow Knuckles got us all dragged into it; Spectre's apparently dropping in from somewhere to fill us in when we all get here".

"How will he know when we're all present and correct?"

"This is Spectre we're talking about".

"Ah, fair enough", Charmy ascended to that point of logic before slipping his own phone back into his pocket, "while we're on the subject Esp's on her way; she'll hopefully be arriving just before Knuckles; he is at Haven I assume?"

"Yep, went over there just before I headed this way", the bat confirmed cheerfully, half her mind still lingering on what had the Brotherhood rattled this badly, "so, where is she exactly?"

"Getting ready, washing her hair". Vector whistled in low relief,

"Ah, tha's fine then, should be done in...'ey", only when he realised everyone else was chuckling did he break off and realise what a prise plonker he'd made himself look; trying to recover, he scrambled for cover in the form of an affronted manner, glaring as the other Mobians tried to avoid looking him in the eye, "no pickin' on a croc 'oo's jus' 'ad a near-death experience – where's yer sense o' fair play?"

"Same, same place as your common sense", Mighty managed to choke out before heaving down a deep breath and looking directly at her insectile team mate, "but you're right; where is she Charm, really?" Realising the time for fun and games was over, the bee calmed himself down and shrugged,

"She didn't say exactly, all she told me is that she's about ten, fifteen minutes away". That was the opening Rouge had been waiting for; in a flash she pounced and turned to conversation right around to her own ends,

"Good, so while we've got a little time", she paused, ostentatiously to make herself a little more comfortable in her seated position but in reality she was making sure she had the Chaotix's undivided attention before she moved on; _not that I don't trust you buzz-boy but no spy ever works off a single source of information_; "Charmy mentioned that Esp was getting better earlier; how've you two found her?"

How she managed to say things sometimes with an open face eluded even her; she was scrutinising everything the older two members of the Chaotix told her with their faces, expressions as bodies at least as much as the words that issued from their lips, but somehow they didn't seem to notice her assiduous attention as they replied,

"Overall", Mighty ventured after a few seconds' deliberation, "yeah, I'd go with that; it's a long way from perfect I'm first to admit, but compared to what was going on a few weeks ago Esprana's a completely different Mobian".

"'Specially compared t'Espio", Vector finished for her, the armadillo falling silent as she knew he'd be a much better judge of that than she was; _after all, how long had they been friends before I knew them?_; "jus' a coupla minor teethin' trubbles t'iron out an' I reckon we'll, or she'll, be more o'less there; she even gave us a twirl in 'er new duds earlier – looked quite good on 'er truth b'told". He returned the bats' level stare coolly, expecting her to blink first and not disappointed as the guardian lowered her eyes a second later, expression rueful as though she was a little chagrined she'd even had to ask,

"Good, that was the impression I got earlier – still enjoying that club she goes to is she?"

"Too right; I've had to start swapping shifts with her recently and that really is a first", Mighty filled her in, wry snorts of laughter breaking through her solemn expression, "I can guess what you said though buzz-boy; at the minute that is all she does, she doesn't get out much. But all I can say is that at this stage it really is one step at a time; we'd all like her to throw herself into big, wide world but I don't think anyone could expect her to, not at first anyway. Give it time and a couple more hints of 'encouragement'"; _interesting_; the evil glare the armadillo knifed Charmy with pinged up on the bat's radar but she declined to act on it just yet; _might have to do a bit of digging to get to that one_; "and she'll be right as rain I'm sure of it".

That statement seemed to signal an end to that avenue of conversation; Mighty had, rather oddly by her standards, summed up the situation very neatly and succinctly – there was really nothing left that anyone could add. Least of all Rouge; the bat now knew all she'd been after and, even more importantly, as far as she was concerned all the news was good. Still, it didn't do to grow complacent and give the game away just yet and as such she tried to steer the conversation towards more neutral ground both to set her friends more at ease and, in her case, give herself enough of a breathing space to get her head screwed on right; better than anyone, Rouge knew how easily all the good work that had been done so far could be undone and worse by the merest slip of the tongue.

Alone among the Chaotix Esprana herself didn't know that both guardians were aware of her gender switch; it was a secret Vector himself had been forced to divulge as the bats' persistence had finally broken his already sorely taxed resilience and beaten it out of him; even now, looking back over it all, Rouge couldn't yet say hand on heart that, had she a chance to do things over again and knowing what she did now, that she'd have done the same thing, taken those risks again – sometimes even she found herself awake in the dead of night, wondering, fearing, doubting what she now knew was the truth and her capabilities to adapt to it. As always at time such as these, however, she found solace from the others who joined her in this select sect of misery just as they did her; knowledge was power and in this case a relief – knowing that others were going through the same uncertainties as you, asking the same questions and fearing the same demons, was an odd sort of comfort, but it was the only one they had so it, and each other, was what they clung to in order to weather these stormy waters together.

XXX

The conversation lasted until the teleported frazzled into life again; all heads turned in time to see Esprana burst into the shrine itself, natural camouflage already in place and two throwing stars in her hands, armed and dangerous just in case security was already compromised,

"What's going on?" It was her traditional, gravelly growl, the one she'd adopted her own voice despite the pain it had caused in her throat; a broken male voice was never meant to be spoken by female vocal chords, "what's the emergency?"

"Not sure, waiting on Knuckles to shed some light on it all", Mighty piped up in explanation, the armadillo motioning for her team mate to take a seat and sit it out with the rest of them, "all we know is it's something to do with the Brotherhood and it's got them rattled enough to call in the cavalry". Even as she sat down, it was obvious the ninja was weighing up the options, one finger just under her lip as she thought things through,

"Hmm", a second's brainwork formed a couple of solid conclusions, "from what I know of your in-laws it must be serious; let's face it, if it's something half-a-dozen old and very powerful telepathic echidnas can't handle in their own back yard, I can't see what good we can feasibly do. Not that we shouldn't try at all", she extrapolated smoothly, a little positivity helping to lighten the dour tone of her earlier comments, "but I'm trying to see what good the Brotherhood can seriously expect us to achieve if they themselves are falling short".

It was a good point, well presented; none present could deny the chameleon that – however even part of her mind tried to come up with a convincing argument to the reptiles' logic, the part of Rouge's mind connected to perhaps the most distinctive part of her anatomy chimed just in time to let her know that this time, it wasn't up to her to provide the answer,

"No idea Esp but I know someone who will", even as the others opened their mouths, the bat smiled and looked pointedly towards the shrine entrance, "try as I might to change a few things about him I doubt even I'll ever be able to take the lead out of his feet; Knuckles", her voice rose as she did, smirking as her husband hustled towards the Master Emerald, heavy running noise preceding him and legs shaking as it looked like he'd just sprinted the whole way from Haven, "I am never going to be able to trust you with the sneaky-beaky stuff; leave that to me". The guardian nodded and put his hands on his knees, heaving air into his lungs and flicking the sweat from his vision before trying to talk,

"W, with pleasure, batgirl", it took an effort even to stand up straight, much less even begin to deliver his message as one of his hands rose to ward off the forthcoming questions, "this, is not going, to be, easy to explain..."

"If that is the case seventh-son", a deeper, somehow darker voice rolled over the conversation like an earthquake and everyone, even Knuckles himself, jumped at the sudden noise, "perhaps you'd better leave that to me".

How long he'd been there no-one could have said; it was possible Spectre had followed in his seventh-son's footsteps before striding down the corridor with menace in his steps and purpose in his stride but, somehow, everyone found themselves nursing the suspicion that the eldest of the Brotherhood of Guardians had been stood there a lot longer than that. As more than one of the guardians and their helpers had confessed to each other over time, there was a general, mostly unspoken consensus that Spectre knew a lot more than he let on – the fact that a Mobian such as this formidable echidna, therefore, had judged a crisis to be severe enough to call in excess help was worrying both in and of itself. Taken slightly aback by the sudden sight of one of her myriad generations of in-laws, Rouge managed to recover in time to gasp out a greeting,

"Spectre", the mention of his name gave the ebon echidna gave his pause for thought, his appearance and general demeanour ludicrously reminding her of Shadow before the illusion was blurred by his hanging black dreadlocks and the steel helmet that covered most of them, "you, ah, you knew we'd be here?"

"Sojourner filled me in, almost as soon as you left Knuckles", the youngest guardian inclined his head to the eldest as Spectre made it over to where the rest of his ad-hoc volunteers were sat, regarding him curiously as their shock bled away, "I'm glad you're all here so quickly though, damn I'm getting too old for this, I need younger legs and eyes to sort this bloody mess out". Charmy, perhaps recognising that the situation wasn't quite as balanced on a knife-edge as they'd been led to believe, plucked up enough courage to pipe up,

"Why? What's actually going on – I assume it's nothing like the Dark Legion attacking, or something in that vein".

"Athair's escaped".

_Oh thank you for that Knuckles_; he could close his eyes but not his ears as his seventh-son spoke and ruined any chance he had of broaching the topic delicately; _bad enough one of you young rabble's making my life hell again, another one has to just go and compound the bloody problem. Still_; grudgingly opening his eyes again and fighting down the urge to bristle as he saw the Mobians before him trying their hardest to stifle helpless laughter, the armadillo it particular with her forehead all but brushing her knees as she fought to keep her mirth contained to just her stomach; _it could be worse_;

"It's not quite that simple unfortunately", his voice rose as he tried to get a grip on the deteriorating situation, "none of us is quite sure how he's managed it but at the minute the most important thing is to track him down and get him home before he gets confused and starts acting up".

"He's done this before then?"

"Once or twice; oh don't look at me like that, we don't have him shackled in chains at home you know", Spectre explained to them, seeing one or two penetrating glances heading his way as his impromptu audience digested the story as they knew it so far, "he goes out as much as the rest of us, we just keep him under supervision, he's with one of us at all times; let's face it, would you want someone like him wandering off on his own? If he was a member of your family?"

It was a point none of them could deny; loveable though he often was, Athair did have a knack for finding trouble or, if existing problems were proving difficult to latch onto, creating plenty of his own and, the law of averages being what they were, once in a while he was bound to start something even he wouldn't be able to control. After a second in which the trepidation died away to be replaced by bedrock realism, Vector took half a step forwards and nodded,

"Fair 'nough Spectre; we'll find 'im. Where'd y'wan us t'start lookin'?" Seeing he had them looking at the problem from his point of view, the black echidna rubbed his eyes tiredly and gestured them all towards him, speaking more quietly now and filling them in on the situation as it stood now,

"Good, I'm glad you feel that way; truth be told I'm sure some of us would want to keep him anchored to the floor after this little episode, if I can talk Thunderhawk into not anchoring him to the bottom of the Silver Sea that is. But that's for later", he suddenly stood up straighter and addressed them all directly, "right now we've got Hawk in the city, Sojourner's at Haven just in case he drops back in for some reason, Sabre's unfortunately otherwise engaged..."

The next five or ten minutes were fully occupied in hushed tones, finalising the strategy that would, hopefully, close the noose around the island and track down the errant guardian before he could cause a catastrophe that would have dragged the name of the guardians through the mud again. The basic idea was moulded, sculpted, slipped, broke and was remade until, at last, the three guardians and four assistants broke apart and dispersed, the watching of the shrine left to no-one in their haste to find Athair, for who else but a guardian or an assistant to their sacred duty knew where to find Angel Island's greatest treasure?

XXX

It was, as she knew from her studies, impossible to pinpoint the moment when you fell asleep, but also the moment you woke up; that was all fine and dandy, though if Amy Rose wasn't able to realise the exact moment she returned to the land of the conscious, she was certainly able to recall the instant she shot backwards, numb with horrified shock, all but flying out from under the covers and landing on the cold floor with an ungraceful thump and profusion of profanity.

It was the instant that occurred just after the instant her blurred vision picked out the face of her boyfriend mere inches from her own, smirking cheekily and blowing gently on her nose.

Heart hammering ninety to the dozen the pink hedgehog just about managed to hold in a scream of alarm at the same time as hurl herself back under the covers just in time to prevent an inglorious entry into the new morning. Panting harshly, Amy squeezed her eyes tightly shut as she attempted to make sense of her insane, early-morning vision; _what would make me see Sonic in bed so early in the morning? Well_; she blushed deeply as she thought a little more thoroughly into that particular question, though before she could divert too much brain-power to the subject the flow was interrupted by a sudden release of pressure to the side of her and the sound of her boyfriend's cheerful laugh,

"Morning Ames", the world-renowned blue blur stretched upwards, apparently not noticing Amy's face go from crimson to pale cream as she realised her apparent dream had somehow translated itself into reality, "ready to go?"

"Go?" She gasped in a breathless parrot-fashion, trying to make sense of everything again and not having much success until she realised that it was Saturday; _and not just..._; though the discovery threw her a little at first, Sonic usually being nothing if not adverse to leave the sanctum of his bedroom on what he considered to be his sacred day, eventually the pink hedgehog figured out what had dragged even Sonic out of the comforts of his usual routine; _...it's that Saturday!_

"No, no I can't have..." modesty forgotten, Amy scrambled up and around her, flailing as she tried to haphazardly kick off the blanket, find her clothes and orientate herself in the darkness of her bedroom all at the same time, "...there's no way I've slept in! I set that alarm perfectly, no way it's not, gone..."

The rest of that sentence died away unsaid as Amy suddenly realised how dark it was in the room itself; though spring had yet to truly spring upward and liberate the land from winters' icy clutches, it should have been lighter than this by the time she'd planned to be up and moving. A sudden germ of suspicion growing in her mind, she cast a beady eye back at where Sonic was still reclining on top of her duvet, hands behind the back of his head and smiling insouciantly up at her, face betraying nothing and forcing her to reach across to her bedside table, fumble around for a minute until she located her watch. She couldn't even see the time; that was how dark it was – with the distinct sinking feeling in her stomach that she'd been somehow set up again, the undergraduate hedgehog pressed the tiny stud on the side of the small metal face. As the numbers flashed into sudden light and she realised just how quick a fast one Sonic had pulled this time, she somehow wasn't surprised to hear a groan of relieved bedsprings and a sudden lack of pressure to the side of her. Swivelling around in her seat, nailing the guilty party with her best evil glare as the recognition of the early hour took a sudden toll on even her hardy constitution, Amy opened her mouth to lambast the other hedgehog,

"What?" At once her mouth was forced to snap shut as, once more, Sonic beat her to the punch with his comment and shrugging carelessly, "Just making sure we'd both be ready on time".

"Sonic it is half-past six in the morning", Amy didn't realise she was speaking until she heard her own voice, "Tails will not be here for another three hours so I am going back to bed and you are not going to disturb me again, do you understand?" The blue hedgehog smiled again, edging towards the door in a manner that made Amy prepare for the worst; she'd seen that look too often before,

"Course, I wouldn't anyway", as she'd known it was going to, his smile exploded into a full grin and he inclined his head towards her, "you have no idea how cute you look when you're sleeping".

Perhaps at heart it was a compliment, and maybe even Sonic had meant it to be taken at face value; however, left grouchy by her early start and sudden wake-up call, Amy interpreted his words in the worst possible way and simply let rip,

"Get out!" Her bellow only served to wake her up further but by this stage she simply didn't care, "Out, out, out, out, out!" Her words were like machine-gun bullets; Sonic raised his arms to defend himself as best he could, breaking cover enough to rattle back a reply designed to really test her temper to the limit,

"But you're even cuter when you're angry – whoa", his arms shot up again, just in time to intercept the pillow that had been sent flying straight and true at his face like a squashy missile, "okay, I get the message!" With that, he flipped the pillow back towards its owner, span on his heel and, forgetting all semblance of dignity, tore for the door in full retreat, only grateful when no further surprises rained down on his retreating back.

She left it just long enough; as the slam of her bedroom door echoed around the now-deserted bedchamber, Amy snatched up the pillow that had landed back across her legs, hugged it to her face and, as she fell backwards into a prone position, screamed into it, a childish reaction that she knew she shouldn't really indulge as a would-be councillor; at the moment, however, she couldn't give a stuff about decorum and as such simply bellowed her emotions, mixed and mingled as they were, into the soft, accepting down-filled bag. She couldn't, in fact didn't even want to think about trying to work out what to do next until this primal scream therapy was over and, as her voice and lungs both began to fail her, she let go of her former comfort blanket and let it flop from her face, her sensitive facial hairs immediately stinging as they came into contact with the cooler night air. _Bloody Sonic_; her first thought was only too obvious; _if it's not one thing it's the ruddy other – thanks to him I'm going to be knackered for the rest of the day, git. Oh, but it could have been worse_; that was something at least – if nothing else, living with Sonic always carried to consolation prize that, no matter what the blue hedgehog actually did, it was always far from the worst thing he actually could have done given the circumstances.

It was one of the things she'd just had to get used to since moving in; in fact, if she was honest with herself, it was one of the things that had attracted her to the blue blur in the first place – he had a kind of untameable inner wildness that intrigued and titillated her, even if as now it occasionally manifested itself as a mischievous streak a mile wide. It was part of her boyfriend she was unlikely to ever change, wouldn't really want to change because, without it, Sonic wouldn't really be Sonic any more; he'd be someone else, someone less exciting and unique than the hedgehog she'd fallen in love with. _So I can't change it, can't do much about it_; the issue began to fade from Amy's mind as she rolled over and tried to let her eyes drift shut, fall back to the sleep she'd been so rudely jerked away from; _only option I've got left, try to learn to live with it, hard as that might be at times._

Hard it may have occasionally been but, as Amy was forced to grudgingly admit as Sonic brought her around again a few hours later, though this time with a conciliatory cup of tea and breakfast on a tray, living with the childish side of the hero occasionally it had its advantages.

XXX

It also, Amy suddenly realised with a sinking feeling in her stomach as she checked her watched and ticked off that they'd been in the air for about half an hour now, had a couple of disadvantages, one of which was both coming easily into reach and as bad as Sonic himself in its own way to boot. Deciding she should at least try to avert the crisis before it could truly come to a head and inwardly sighing as she realised it was probably a wasted effort in the long run, Amy looked across the Tornado to where her partner was sat in his seat, virtually vibrating as his eyes remained glued to the porthole next to him, ticking down the second before he'd be back on Angel Island, touched down with his friends and ready to raise hell,

"Sonic; hey", as he glanced over excitedly Amy felt a quiver run through her resolve; _he's just ecstatic because he's meeting friends again – it's not really fair to have a pop at him for that is it? I mean, if he didn't care I'd be a lot worse off than I am now_; it was a convincing argument and one that managed to, if not quite divert her from her course, maybe soften the impact her words may otherwise have had,

"Now I'm sure I've said it before but just to be on the safe side I'll say it again", even as the words issued from her lips she fancied she could see his expression hardening, the normally-carefree smirk and smile withdrawing behind a granite-hard mask of obstinacy that had held the world's most powerful megalomaniacal scientist in check for over half a decade, "while we're up top you are not to get into too much trouble with Rouge, especially not around Lara; it's just not fair on her Sonic".

"Too right", both hedgehogs jumped as the speakers on the inside of the Tornado crackled into life, Amy receiving help from an unexpected quarter as Tails jumped in on her behalf, "that's my soon-to-be godson there bro; I don't want Lara to be upset by anything, anything at all, this close to the end".

Sonic said nothing for a moment, his face turned away so the other hedgehog in the passenger compartment couldn't get a clear glimpse; his shoulders began to shake a little but before Amy could deduce if this was good or ill, the hero spoke,

"Okay, anyone else want a go while I'm sat here? Cream", his voice rose to allow him to address the Tornado's co-pilot, "how about you? Anything you want to add?"

"Ummm..." Before the rabbit could answer, Sonic had carried on regardless, shoulders square as he tackled this latest potential obstacle in the same way he'd tackled and taken out all those that had come before it,

"Listen up everyone, this might come as a surprise but I do actually have a set of manners lying about somewhere, and I know where and when to dust them off and put some spit and polish on them. Batgirl and I have never seen eye to eye, and I've bumped heads with her husband more than once now I think about it, but what I am not prepared to do is risk anything, least of all Kneecaps and his mum, just to score some petty points in an argument. As far as I'm concerned I'm playing it by ear up there; if Rouge wants to act civil I'm fine with that, but if she wants to play dirty then the gloves are off and the claws are out. Sound fair to the lot of you?"

Amy blinked; it was all she could think to do in the face of such an argument of passionate logic – Sonic had simply turned the argument on its head with a turn of phrase that squarely put the ball in the court of the greeting party waiting on Angel Island. The blue hedgehog simply sat resolute in his seat, arms folded and staring coolly across the interior of the Tornado itself, awaiting the response he knew was coming – despite his normally quick-tempered demeanour this was one of the very few times he knew he could afford patience for the simple reason he was sure of the answer he was going to receive this time; phrasing his answer as neatly as he had, the blue hedgehog had left his debating partners no wriggle room to manoeuvre in. _Should I let them off the hook?_; not naturally vindictive, the blue hedgehog couldn't deny a certain mean streak buried deeply somewhere in his psyche being thrummed merrily as he saw and heard the other three Mobians squirming in their seats, trying to find a way to disengage from the sticky situation without losing too much face and finding it too much fun to let it go so easily; _nah – come on then Miss Psychology, work your way out of this one_. Eyebrows raised he still said nothing, merely watching on expectantly as Amy twisted and turned in her seat, resolutely refusing to meet his eye, even when the eventual apology trickled grudgingly from her lips,

"Okay Sonic", scrutinising the floor the rose hedgehog was forced to give this one up as a lost cause, "sorry, we took that one a bit far. Of course we trust you", finally she managed to bring her head up with, Sonic noted with a degree of consternation, challenge gleaming in her eyes, "but I've got my eye on you just in case".

"Yes ma'am; I'll just sit in this corner and keep my mouth shut", he folded his arms and looked away, head up, nose in the air as though there was a nasty smell somewhere nearby, "you won't even know I'm here; quiet as a mouse, that's me". There was a second of stunned silence before, following a split-second static crackle, laughter burst through the transmogrophying vehicles' internal speaker systems,

"You, a mouse", Cream gasped, taking a second to catch her breath before carrying on, "that'll be the day – an enor-mouse maybe with the noise you usually kick up just being you". _You know sometimes_; the hedgehog cringed as that mine detonated under the moral high ground he'd so grandly been occupying up until that point; _I hate that rabbit_;

"Maybe, maybe not but take it from me, that's not as much noise I can make when I'm having fun trampling over small, squishy Mobians with big mouths and a knack for opening them at just the wrong moment".

"You can try spiky, but I wouldn't recommend it – least of all when Amy's watching. I am her little sister after all". _Just in case_; tempting as it was to shoot straight from the lip, the blue hedgehog had learnt just enough about the science of caution to quickly turn and ask Amy for permission with his eyes – as she nodded her ascent to his unspoken request he felt himself almost glow with pride,

"Yeah, that might be, and when I'm through with you you'll be her _really_ little sister. Still, judging from what I've been seeing so far it shouldn't be much of a problem", the speakers fell ominously quiet as the hedgehog skirted close to what Cream considered taboo territory, "seeing how you're shooting up like a bottle rocket you'd be right as rain in a few weeks; in fact Vanilla might just thank me – I'd be saving her a fortune in the cost of new clothes by keeping you the same size".

Cream's answer, or at least that much of it that was repeatable, was unfortunately drowned out by the irresistible snort of laughter that erupted through from the Tornado's cockpit, the noise immediately followed up by a succession of muffled slapping noises and hissed curses, each one forcing Sonics' grin a little wider and battering Amy further down in her seat, face bright red and hand clapped over her mouth as she tried desperately to keep at least some of her dignity intact by appearing to rise above the bedlam and impose some degree of sanity on the situation. This impression lasted about as long as it took Sonic to roll his eyes and hold his hand at arms-length and suck in his stomach, acting like he was dodging a smaller person swinging at him; even as she disintegrated into hopeless laughter, the rose hedgehog managed to wince as the noise of her mirth filtered back through to the cockpit and the yelps of pain from Tails only increased as the miffed rabbit took out her temper on the nearest available convenient punch bag. _Chaos, panic and disorder_; hearing and revelling in the primordial soup of laughter and mirth he'd stirred into life around him, Sonic folded his arms behind his head and allowed himself a smile; _my work here is done!_

XXX

"Now Rouge"; _here we go then_; the bat had known this was coming and braced herself, "I don't want to say it..."

"Then don't", she huffed impatiently, folding her arms and glaring across at her husband as the echidna shook his head, "I know exactly what's on your mind and I'll tell you now there's no point labouring the point; if Sonic behaves, I will".

"Yeah, that's what I'm afraid of", Knuckles muttered under his breath; unfortunately he seemed to have forgotten his partner's super-sensitive hearing and was therefore left quailing as Rouge rounded on him,

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

"Well you saying that doesn't exactly fill me with confidence does it?" Knuckles tried to wheedle his way out of the hole he'd dug for himself, growing slightly bolder as he rationalised his own logic and found it, much to his surprise, virtually watertight, "Let's face it, you're both as bad as each other and you've both definitely got previous – don't get me wrong you do behave around each other, problem is, you just tend to behave badly and I am not clearing up after another one of your little spats around mum; bad enough I've got Athair continually dragging my family name through the mud, I don't need you and Sonic making spectacles of yourself to put the cherry on the cake"

_Damn that was smooth_; the clarity of his logic took even Knuckles by surprise; _now why can't I do that more often, like when I'm on the losing side of an argument for instance?_ It was a question he doubted he'd ever know the answer to but, at the moment, he was content to let that sleeping dog lie and concentrate instead on making the most of his good fortune – Rouge was caught completely flat-footed by his unexpected turn of phrase and as such stunned into silence, merely able to shrug her shoulders and scowl a little, though whether the expression was directed at him for putting her on the spot or herself for winding up there in the first place the echidna could only guess at. She looked away for a minute and he did the same, each silently testing the new silence that had come swimming between them, until just as he was on the cusp of plucking up his courage to break the silence, the guardian was jolted off-track by the sound of his wifes' voice again,

"You know Knucks", hastily closing the mouth he'd just opened, Knuckles tried to look attentive as the bat spoke half over her shoulder, "I hate to say it but you got me there. Okay, you didn't want to say it but I guess I haven't got a choice", heaving down a great sigh, the former spy turned to meet her husbands' eye, expression faintly troubled but resolute nonetheless, "I promise, I will keep spiky at arms' length all the time he's up here; I will not provoke or annoy him, but I reserve the right to defend myself and retaliate if he starts it – sound fair to you?"

_Hmm_; trying to tot it all up in his head and mindful that the speck on the horizon he'd noticed half a minute or so ago was swelling all the time, Knuckles didn't have long to mull the offer over; _sounds about fair enough I guess_.

"Yeah, guess I can live with that – just as well really", moment of awkwardness well and truly past, the echidna smiled broadly as he turned towards the incoming plane, "they're just about here".

"I know, I heard them five minutes ago", the bat informed him, deigning to wave as the low, rumbling roar of jet engines began percolating in from the distance, the Tornado arcing towards the impromptu landing pad in the wilds of Angel Island, trajectory flat to make sure a curious eye from Echidnopolis wouldn't detect it and grow more curious still. Both echidna and bat covered their ears and crouched down, out the range of the Tornado's backwash as the jet swooshed in low for its final pass, the pilot of either Tails or Cream making a perfect touchdown on the island, the wheels barely bouncing as the sturdy little engine arrived on its second home.

Standing up and blinking in the sudden rush of heat from the jet fans, Knuckles left his bride slightly behind him as he moved to form a welcoming party; Rouge always took slightly longer to approach as the high-pitched whine of the Tornado powering down hurt her hearing if she got too close too soon. Raising a hand to shield his eyes, the guardian just about picked out a blurry figure in the cockpit raise a hand in either a wave or a thumbs-up; he just had time to reply to the greeting before, with a hydraulic hiss, the small ramp detached itself from the main body of the planes' interior and flipped downwards to allow its passengers to disembark; he heard Rouge move up behind him as the light from the interior was blocked out by a sudden shape and he felt trepidation and gladness in equal measure well up in his throat; _well, too late now_; trying to think of positive things and with his fingers crossed inside his gloves, the guardian just about resisted the urge to glance behind him as he nodded towards where Sonic was stepping down the ramp to meet them, hands full of bags but with the smile Knuckles recognised all too well prominently perched on his features; _just hope to the Master and hold your breath - here goes absolutely nothing_.

XXX

Contrary to his usual style of rushing down the landing ramp and lapping the entire island a couple of times to say hello, Sonic's approach this time was a lot more measured for two reasons; the fact the island now was nearly eight times the size it had been when he'd pulled that trick last didn't unduly worry him; with his speed he was confident he'd still make the round trip with time to spare, but the fact he was now carrying a lot more luggage than his usual simple rucksack dissuaded his thoughts; for some reason the thought of Amy's clothing scattered all over Angel Island as the straps of her suitcase came loose were swiftly followed by giant stars of pain following the impact of a Piko Piko hammer swung in anger. For that reason the blue hedgehog strode serenely down the ramp, coming to a halt at the bottom and putting the bags down carefully, stretching up and checking the aforementioned pink hedgehog was on his heels before turning and striding towards where his echidna friend waited, normal smile back on his face,

"Knuckles!" _Huh?_; being beaten in a foot race was such an uncommon occurrence that it didn't compute at first; it was only when he saw Cream being hefted up into a bear hug by the guardian that he realised the rabbit had darted past him and been swept up into his arms, glad to see her friend again; _wow, now that's not something that happens every day_. Where once he might have fired up and declared Cream a cheat for running when he wasn't aware of the challenge, age had mellowed him to the point where he simply chuckled about it; the laughter died in his throat, however, when like iron filings to a magnet, his eyes were dragged away from where beige and crimson were entwined together, to someone else, the presence of whom he couldn't have ignored if his life depended on it.

_So then spiky_; though everyone around them both was holding their breath Rouge wasn't aware of it; as it had been from the moment she'd seen him touch down all her attention had been focussed solely on Sonic, trying to figure out his most likely moves and rationally plan out counters to them; _we meet again. So_; she kept her face neutral, arms loosely folded as he approached – she was going to let him make the first move this time though, as always, her ideas about his strategy were impaired by his normal smile, an expression that could have meant virtually anything; _where do we go from here – the ball's in your court now_. That much was true, though it was more of a struggle than she'd have admitted to to try and keep her face straight and posture relaxed as the hedgehog drew nearer; when he actually stopped there was no more than three feet between the two of them. Silence reigned for a second as they looked each other dead in the eye, not moving; the moment ended a second later as Sonic, inexplicably from the bats' point of view, dropped his gaze,

"My _dear _Rouge", blinking as she was the guardian only realised what was going on when she saw the hedgehogs' arm folded up parallel to the floor in line with his waist, "such an honour and a pleasure to see you again after all this time".

The communication between the two of them was so quick it was virtual telepathy; with those words alone Rouge knew that the blue blur had come in for the same sort of warnings and hectoring as she had and, most importantly, he now felt it was time for a bit of overdue payback; _which suits me just fine_. Antagonistic they might have been most of the time towards each other but, Rouge smirked to herself as she reciprocated Sonic's over-elaborate greeting with a pantomime curtsey despite the fact she wasn't wearing a skirt, when they put animosity aside for a common cause, the bat knew that synergistically they had few equals in the fine art of winding people up,

"And you likewise, my precious little sapphire", the merest glance over his shoulder picked out what she wanted to see; Knuckles cringing at the pair of them; _but there's nothing you can say about it – we're not arguing with each other_; "without you close at hand it's been like missing the most precious jewel of even my extensive collection".

"With a woman of your fine tastes and very highest of standards in judgement, I consider myself honoured beyond all by your compliments, little princess of the evening sky"; _wow_; though the smile on his face robbed his words of any romantic insinuations, Rouge nevertheless found herself impressed; _never knew you could make a girl feel so special Sonic – Amy must really have brought it out in you_; "now, if I may be so bold, I believe it is time for me to lay claim to a debt I've carried for far too long now". His hand extended slowly, just giving the bat enough time to figure out what he was asking for, sneak another look at their audience, take in the sight of both her husband and Sonic's girlfriend writhing in an embarrassed purgatory at their performance and smile; _well, in for a penny in for a pound..._;

"But of course", her shapely hand fitted into Sonic's like a glove; though she'd never have swapped them and the effect they could have on her body for any other sensation of earth, the fact that Knuckles wore gloves of his fashion all the time unless they were in private meant it was a rare and pleasant sensation for Rouge to interlock her fingers with someone else, "mind if I take the lead?" The hedgehog, now her partner for the time being, shook his head with a gracious smile,

"As always, ladies first"; with that he said nothing more, merely following the bat as she placed her feet demurely, a slow waltz over the grassed earth of Angel Island. They said nothing more, either because they were too busy trying not to laugh or working out where to put their feet next, until a loud, irritated shout from behind them broke the spell of silence,

"Oi", Knuckles was already cursing himself for not predicting something like this, the sight of Tails pretend to retch nauseously as he observed the two Mobians before them all slowly rotating around one-another the final straw for both his patience and his sense of embarrassment, "okay twinkle-toes, you can stop that performance right there". For a minute he thought he'd done it as the two of them stopped, then he noticed Rouge flick her gaze towards him and internally winced; he'd seen that look too often before,

"Oh no", the bat whipped her attention back towards Sonic, fake panic evident in her tone, "my uncouth husband has returned early!" Her warning caused the hedgehog to likewise look around; seeing Knuckles' volcanic glare, he merely winked and turned back,

"Quickstep!" Next minute, both he and the bat were striding away, hands still together as they sped away from the landing pad; _ready, set and..._; Knuckles was about to give chase when he, and the escaping duo for that matter, were brought to a crashing halt by a second shout,

"Hold it right there", both dance partners looked back to see Amy, eyes like target sights, smile somewhere between mirth and malevolence and Piko-Piko hammer tapping the ground in front of her lightly, "you aren't _that_ fast!" The rest of her pseudo-threat went unsaid as it seemed everyone present knew the game was up,

"Hmm", Sonic regarded the bat he was arms-length from out the corner of his eye, "she makes a valid point". Rouge chuckled nervously,

"The point doesn't worry me; it's the big, heavy bit on the end that does that. I suggest tactical withdrawal..."

"You mean running away?"

"...for the moment", the former spy concluded despite Sonic butting in, shrugging as she disengaged her hands from his, "I'd rather live a coward than die a fool, even a heroic fool". The hedgehog considered this for a minute before shrugging, turning in tandem with the bat and trudging back to the rest of the party,

"There's truth in that I'll grant you; okay, okay", he held up his hands as he found himself still under Amy's beady eye, "point taken; I'll be good as gold from now on".

"Me too", Rouge jumped on the bandwagon before it picked up too much momentum and left her behind, grateful to see her supposedly-uncouth husband merely shake his head at the antic of the two of them, "though I must ask, how'd you know how to dance?" Sonic sniggered, his arm around Amy's shoulders as the other hedgehog gave him a well-deserved dig in the ribs,

"Well someone had to teach Mighty all she knows. Seriously though, no", even at the worst of time he'd been able to laugh at himself and these were far from the worst of times, "I can't dance – I was just watching where you were putting your feet and tried to copy you. Luckily I'm quick enough to avoid treading on things even if I get it slightly wrong".

"Yeah, just as well; shame that doesn't come into play when I'm under the Tornado and you come strolling in", Tails curled one of his namesakes up as phantom pain throbbed through it at the memory – he hadn't been able to fly in a straight line for a week afterwards, "anyway, after that little performance I'm convinced we're not related; if that had been any more sickening I'd have lost my lunch – hey!" The fox fought off his brothers hand as it whipped out and tousled his fringe, Sonic chuckling as the younger Mobian glared up at him filthily while trying to repair his traditional style,

"Those are the moves kid, I'll teach you when you're older, although", the hero gave a very obvious look in the Cream's direction, Tails immediately going red and swearing a furious mental revenge, "going on that evidence I'd better make it quick – you're picking up your own set pretty well".

"You keep that up and the only thing you'll be picking up are your teeth", Cream stormed bravely, though as pretty much everyone, even Tails, suddenly had to avert their eyes as the thought of her trying to pick a fight with someone almost made them laugh she lost her courage and felt silent. Amy, however, seeing this, backed her up, rapping Sonic lightly on the toe with the tip of her hammer haft,

"You will and all, and before you go anywhere you've not weaselled your way out of it either", Rouge let drop an expression of starry-eyed innocence worthy of a pop diva but the pink hedgehog carried on regardless, "it was better behaviour than I was expecting I'll grant you, but that's an end to it for now I expect?"

"You expect right", Knuckles told her before his wife could answer, a direct expression on his face glaring down any challenge from the bat by his side, "I'll make sure of that".

"Oh yeah?" Even since their marriage, the competitive edge had never been far from the surface as far as the bat was concerned; folding her arms she smiled challengingly at her husband, "And how are you planning to do that exactly?" Knuckles smiled right back before glancing at his wrist, simulating a glance at a watch he didn't have,

"By pointing out the simple fact that we're running a tight ship here; entertaining as it is if you two prat about for much longer you'll get mum worried about where we all are..."

"And that is not happening", Tails declared forcefully, keys already in his hand and Tornado transforming behind him, "Sonic, I assume you're running?"

"You assume dead right; Cream, fancy a run? Take it as a sorry from me".

"All right, apology accepted"; as Sonic squatted down to let the rabbit clamber onto his back, Tails jerked a thumb over his shoulder,

"Okay that's them sorted, everyone else in". They needed no further bidding and a few moments later a small jeep-like vehicle was joined by an escort of a high-speed hedgehog with what looked like a pair of banners flying just behind his back, both trundling at a steady rate of knots towards the distant boundaries of Echidnopolis.

XXX

Rumbling to a halt, Knuckles was just reaching for the handle when the passenger door popped open of its own accord; seeing who was behind the window, the echidna levered himself back to his feet and stood up, glancing over as he heard a light impact on the floor just to the side of him,

"Good ride floppy?"

"Yeah", Cream smiled as she tilted her head, "think one of my ears popped". The guardian smiled, the face he'd picked out in his peripheral vision disappearing from behind the glass of the kitchen table allowing him to speak his next words with perfect assurance,

"Well lucky for you I know just the cure for that; a nice warm cup of tea and I'm sure mum's probably got an ice-cream or two hiding in the bottom of the freezer somewhere". As he'd expected the rabbits' eyes supernovaed at the mention of her all-time favourite food; she was at the front door almost before everyone else was out the car and therefore the first to hug Wynmacher as he opened it, the chef picking her off the ground almost as easily as his step-son had. Knuckles was about to join them when a glove on his shoulder stopped him and he looked around; Sonic leant in close to speak quickly as most of the others gravitated towards the newly-revealed echidna,

"Seriously red, how've things been up here?"

"In all honesty, perfectly fine", the guardian lied, neglecting to mention the big issue at the heart of the recent strife gnawing at his team of underlings, "not a peep out of anyone, even Metal Sonic looks like he's given up for good this time – one beating too many you think?"

"We can but hope", Sonic replied seriously; knowing that mechanical menace was gone forever would be second only to the knowledge that Eggman was finally out for the count in terms of greatest news in his life, "good, takes a lot off my mind that does; now the serious stuff's out the way, let's go have some fun". Knuckles laughed – some things were just never going to change,

"I'll do what I can", the echidna assured him, heading towards the house with a mind towards getting a drink for himself; despite the air-conditioning the Tornado was still a little warm after it had been flying, "seriously though, the only thing playing on my mind really's been mum; you'll find out why when you see her".

"So I've heard", Sonic stepped through the doorway as Knuckles stood to the side, allowing him past, "Tails has told me she's got a lot bi...blimey...", having finally faced the front again the hedgehog found himself down the hallway from the aforementioned echidna and quickly realised his brother hadn't been exaggerating,

"...Double-yolker".

XXX

The reason Lara kept her lips fully pursed as she heard that comment wasn't, as she hoped the others believed, that she was disproving of the hedgehog's disparaging comment about the size of her unborn child and the detrimental effect this was having on her figure; rather it was that only by reducing her lips about to the size of a small button-hole was she able to avoid bursting into laughter as she could hear her husband had already done in the lounge to the right of her, and her son was trying very hard not to do in hallway before her,

"Sonic Hedgehog", her voice was level enough, though there was a lilt behind it that might have cooled her earlier ire towards one of her sons' oldest friends; it hadn't been a good meeting between the two of them and first impressions tended to last, "you haven't changed a bit have you?"

"Well, in a way", he wheedled, trying to work out if the echidna lady really was offended by his choice of words earlier, "I'm sober now at least – that counts for something right?" Lara left the silence in place just long enough to force perspiration to bead under his spines before she answered, smile at last let loose as she sighed,

"I suppose I should be grateful for small mercies".

"What one; that I haven't changed or that I'm sober?" His question threw her out of the loop completely,

"Um, what, well, one or the other at least", she tried, scrabbling to get back on track; _Tails always said he had a habit of doing that_; deciding that brazening it would be the best option, Lara simply stepped to the side and motioned him forwards irritably, "just get in here before I change my mind about how good an idea inviting you was; Knuckles, please close the door behind you". The guardian nodded, keeping his eye on the way Sonic strode past his mother; _knew it_; and had to suppress a hiss of gently-vindictive glee – only someone who'd known a hedgehog for a very long time would have been able to pick out how his quills had trembled, ever so slightly, and recognise it as a symptom of a slight loss of composure. Mood pleasantly relieved after the earlier shenanigans, Knuckles exhaled happily and toddled down the hallway, entering the lounge and quickly joining in the gentle buzz of conversation between friends.

A/N: Huge chapter and no time to write it – not really a good combo. Still, lots of things are now on the go – The Chaotix appear to be better off, Sonic and most of the others are present on the island – what else can happen? And how did Athair give the rest of the Brotherhood the slip? Question, questions...will answers come later?


	17. Chapter 17 The Highest Goal

Chapter 16 – The Highest Goal

A/N: All excuses at the end of the chapter – only the reviewers to mention before we get into the next chapter:

SM - Thanks for all the comments; I do love large reviews, they say so much more and contain valuble information for imrpovement. Sorry I haven't been able to get this out sooner but, as you'll see at the foot of the chapter, time is short for me at the moment.

Settling down the cups with a clink, Knuckles scooped up his own drink and another for Rouge as she settled down on the arm of the chair she'd sequestered for them both. Lilac eyes sweeping the room in front of them, the guardian took in the room set-up in an instant; of the three chairs his mother and stepfather kept in their sitting room, Lara and his soon-to-be stepbrother took pride of place at the head of the room with Wynmacher sat beside but slightly before her, Cream on the armrest. He and Rouge were just off facing them on the last chair in the room while the other four Mobians had made themselves comfortable on the settee or, in Tails' case, the floor. _That's strange_; something struck the guardian as slightly out of place; _Tails usually sit still when mum's about_; before he could question this aberration however, the silence was broken by Wynmacher smacking his lips,

"Ah, stewed to perfection; nice one Lara", the chef looked over his shoulder slightly, smiling at his wife as she likewise sipped at her drink, "anyway, enough of that; it's good to see you all looking so well, you especially Amy", the rose hedgehog looked up at her name, smiling shyly as the brown echidna picked her out, "these two are always telling us how well you're doing at that university-thingy you've all got down there".

"I'm sure they're exaggerating", the undergraduate explained, scowling gently as Tails and Cream both averted their not-entirely shamefaced grins; _what, she does well at university, she should be proud of herself – all the rest of us are_; "but truth be told I'm doing a lot better than I thought I'd be – it's all the softly-softly stuff at the minute though – they say it gets a lot harder in the second year".

"They all say that", Lara told her, smiling for a second as she remembered her own job training for a moment; _nearly twenty years ago I enrolled and I've never left since, well..._; her eyes flitted across to her son so imperceptibly she doubted he even noticed or suspected; ..._one exception permitting of course. And they still scared us even back then_; "it's just one of those things Ames; don't think it matters where you go or what you do, they'll always rattle you where you're raw. Could be worse though", a couple of other choice stories she'd heard filtered into her mind for a minute and she grimaced, still not sure if they were real or just an urban legend given life by one of her work colleagues with a seriously twisted imagination, "at least you're not working in the morgue".

"Or the kitchens", Sonic chipped in unexpected, grin blossoming as everyone looked around at his outburst, "well you know what they say about hospital food – with all that smoke there's got to be some sort of fire under it all. Anyway, we're both here, doing fine yadda-yadda; the important question is...", he left a very slight dramatic pause, looking squarely up the room and across until his gaze met Lara's no mirth or contrition in his jade eyes now; this was a serious, if well-meant, question,

"...how are you both?"

Even as the hedgehog finished his question Lara and her husband had glanced across at one another – at some silent signal, Wyn looked forwards with a smile, answering for the both of them,

"Oh don't mind us pair, we're both fine", he reassured them both before, after darting a quick glance over his shoulder, the brown echidna leant forwards and spoke again in a pseudo-whisper, "as long as there are no shopping lists about that is". Lara grimaced, the reminder one that made her blush now; _somehow I knew that one wasn't staying quiet_. Knowing there was no way out of this and sensing the burden of expectation on her shoulders, Lara did the only thing she was able to do in the situation; trying to keep her voice level and the blush off her cheeks, she explained what her husbands' less than salubrious last comment had meant,

"Well it had been a long day and I was tired; I knew I shouldn't have tried to add up our bills but I had to have a go. I sat down and started to have a go at it but it didn't make any sense; I could read the numbers but it was a lot harder than it should've been; I kept holding it up to the light to try and see what was going on but I couldn't make head nor tail of it. Things were so desperate I had to call in the cavalry, spirits preserve me, but somehow he managed to sort it all out".

"Or you could say I turned it around", Wyn pitched in, smirking quietly at his one brief, shining moment of triumph over his wife in the field of household economics, "she was reading it back to front, trying to read it through the paper if you like. No wonder she wasn't getting anywhere..."

"...Yes because just for once I took a leaf out of your book and got it back to front", the pregnant echidna scolded, through her look immediately lost its venom and she patted her bump, a mitigating factor for most things in her life for at least the next couple of weeks, "still, once Wyn turned me around it went okay from there. I blame the hormones you know – half the time I don't know if I'm coming or going". There was a slight laugh from the floor at this; Tails looked up from where he'd been sat against the leg of the settee, trying to keep his movements discreet,

"Only half the time? Christ I'd love not to know what was going on half the time at the minute – take it from me Lara hormones are not a blessing as far as foxes are concerned, and we get them every year to boot". The fox sat back for a minute before suddenly sitting bolt upright, expression a strained grimace as he appeared to half-nelson himself, scrabbling to try and reach an itch that had speared right between his shoulder blades; Amy, seeing his suffering, leant forwards and applied the tips of her gloves to the spot, smiling slightly as the others watched on in either amusement or concern and Tails groaned at the relief,

"Shedding season", the hedgehog said simply before transferring her attention back to the patient, "you'll have to drop around sometime later Tails, I've got an old grooming kit that'll get the worst of it out the way".

"Oh cheers Ames", the fox breathed back before shifting again, exposing another area of his back for her attention, "ah, left a bit, left a bit...oh you're a gem". Seeing the look on the faces of both the gifted mechanic and his older brother Knuckles found himself chortling, pointing to the hedgehog between the two of them,

"Looks like Tails picked up a few more moves than you realised Sonic; too much more of this and he'll have swept Amy out your arms and disappeared over the horizon before you could blink". As he'd expected, the azure speedster was never one to take that kind of comment lying down,

"He can run all he likes, he knows he'll never get out my range if I want to catch him; anyway", the hedgehog drew himself up primly, a would-be arrogant sneer on his lips as he spoke word he might have considered a little more deeply had his head been ruling his wit at the time, "what's he got that I don't?"

He knew it was a mistake the moment he'd said it but he couldn't take it back; as he saw the guardians' face light up like a firework, all he could do was stand up tall and take it like the Mobian he was,

"Oh where to start?", Knuckles clapped his hands together and rubbed his spurred paws together – it wasn't often Sonic dropped a clanger like this right in front of him and he was determined to make the most of it, "Well apart from the obvious; you know, the brains, the mechanical aptitude and the looks"; _you are so going to pay for that_; the blue hedgehog tried to keep his face neutral, perhaps even smiling, at the same time as grinding his teeth; _especially the looks bit_; " there's the ability to run a business, and a very successful business at that, he can fly, he can swim...shall I go on?" A slight pang of pity surfaced in the echidnas' mind as he saw the hedgehog's smile was spreading even thinner with each new slab of mockery he laid atop the grave of his ill-chosen remark and he decided to draw it to a close prematurely. Sonic took a second to recompose himself before answering with a knowing smile,

"Maybe that's all true but there's one other thing he's got that I haven't", Sonic leant forwards, his smile ever more resembling a razors' edge, "he knows that if he even tries to take Amy away from me, that little echidna over there will be the _only_ Kneecaps he'll have left when I cop hold of him. Got that Tails?"

"Hmmm?" Recently refreshed in the way only a good scratch could ever manage, the fox belatedly caught up with what was going on around him, "Sorry bro, what were you saying?"

As everyone else broke into sniggers Tails was left scratching his head, swiftly followed by his belly, wondering what all the fuss was about.

XXX

"I give up", Sonic declared before looking over at Lara, smiling once more as Amy blew a couple of orange hairs off her gloves, "same thing every year; soon as shedding season rolls around that's it, he's a goner". Lara smiled in sympathy before looking over at her unborn child's godfather, speaking in a conciliatory tone,

"Never mind Tails, at least it's only a few weeks a year; nine months I've been carting this lump about, like father like son I suppose". Needled by this, Wynmacher turned in his seat to retaliate,

"Maybe, maybe not but I didn't hear you complaining earlier – you always said you wanted another child and, well, as your partner what was I to do but grant your request to the best of my ability?"

"Therein lying the problem", Lara smiled to show she meant no offence as Wyn cocked an eyebrow, "no-one doubts your prowess in the kitchen Wyn; unfortunately that prowess tends to filter down towards your waistline, or in the case of Kneecaps, mine". A ripple of appreciative laughter broke the silence, though Rouge sobered herself up in time to put up some defence for the echidna chef,

"Aww don't be too hard on Wyn Lara; look on the bright side", as her mother in law looked over the bat nodded towards where the kitchen in the house lay, "at least Wyn can cook".

"Hey", as she'd expected Knuckles immediately flared up at her disingenuous insinuation about his ability to provide for his family, "I can cook too batgirl..."

"Yeah, if you like hickory nuts and bitterroot", the bat grimaced, sticking her tongue out as though airing out after biting into something unpleasant, "we don't all like our food sour enough to pickle onions in; someday I'll have to introduce you to the delights of bat cuisine". This time it was Knuckles' turn to pull a face,

"No thank you very much; no offence but I prefer my meat comfortably passed away before I start eating it – never been a big fan of blood in my steak..."

"Guys, guys please", Cream piped up from where she'd migrated to the floor just in front of Lara's seat, looking slightly nauseous at the comments being passed around the room, "not on an empty stomach. And besides", she gestured towards where Rouge sat glowering at her other half, "she's a fruit bat, not interested in food that used to run around in fields before it ended up on the plate". _I should have known by now_; stifling a sigh Knuckles tried to keep the fact he'd been shoved violently on the back foot by the rabbits' comment off his face; _girls always back each other up_;

"I know she's a fruit bat floppy, and very grateful I am for that fact; if she wasn't I reckon I'd be worried about catching a suntan and working on my Transylvanian accent by now"; _okay, that's enough_; catching a side-long glance of his wifes' face from the corner of his eye Knuckles realised he'd said enough and needed to veer the conversation to more stable ground for the pair of them. He knew why the mention of the other side of the bat family tree was a touchy subject for Rouge, and truth be told he wasn't entirely kosher with it either seeing what had happened last time they'd both ended up tangling with one of them. Fortunately the echidna was spared having to gloss the moment over by the sudden action of another – unfortunately, that other just happened to be the one who was aching for a chance for revenge against the one who'd so recently slipped a verbal uppercut straight through his guard and landed a virtual knock-out blow,

"That's as maybe Knucks but I wouldn't slip those garlic clove out you gloves just yet; if Rouge wanted to make you her eternal slave there's something else she could be sucking, aside from your neck", Sonic paused just for a fractional second, just long enough for one conclusion to his insinuations to be drawn by the others, before carrying on, "according to some legends, Chinese ones I think, some vampires don't actually need blood from their victims; they just lock lips and whoomph, that's it, start draining your soul out right through your mouth. Sounds like a nasty way...Knuckles?" 'Belatedly' realising the blank, almost horrified expression on the face of the echidna he was talking to, the blue hedgehog merely cocked an inquisitive eyebrow and asked his innocuous question, eagerly waiting to see how he'd handle the hot potato that had just landed in his lap, "Everything all right there buddy – you seem a bit quiet".

There was a deep, resonating silence that seemed to echo around the packed room, an all-consuming vortex that Sonic's words had dragged all the attention into and refused to let it go; refused, that was, until its suction was finally broken by one of the assembled, apparently only then realising he was being addressed, blinking himself out of his stupor and stuttering something like a reply,

"Uh, yeah, thanks, ah, thanks for that Sonic", in truth Knuckles had barely registered anything the blue hedgehog had said since _that _comment; however necessity being the mother of invention as it usually was, the guardian found himself having to try to magic a solution to this thorny problem out of thin air, "I'll be, er, I'll be taking that on board". The blue hedgehog shrugged, deciding he'd brought himself back to level pegging and therefore declining to press his advantage,

"Ah, you know how it is mate; anything for a friend right?"

"Right", Knuckles ground back through gritted teeth, desperately hoping he hadn't blushed but delivered by his step-father,

"Good to see that; friends will be friends", the chef spoke before nodding once more at where Amy was trying to blend in with the sofa cushions and disappear from view in the wake of her partner's last words, "and some, I'm very pleased to see, are better than friends, well", he smirked as Sonic tried to put an arm around his girlfriends' shoulder and was firmly rebuffed at the point of an elbow, "most of the time at least".

"You got that right", Amy muttered from the corner of her mouth, glaring at Sonic with a malevolent eye as he tried to look innocent; for his part the blue hedgehog merely sighed, once more slipping an arm around her shoulder, an advance that this time she allowed to succeed as he shook his head,

"You know, this is why we came up here", he elaborated as the others all looked in, "it's getting a bit too hectic down there at the minute; we just needed a bit of a break to clear the air and sort things out between us", his smile grew into a rueful grin as he drew his free hand through his head spikes, "and, let's face it, with all the leg-work Ames has had to put in for her uni semesters, it was about time to dip my hand in my pocket, if only to get her off my back for being a typical lazy bum". There was a sudden laugh from the floor, Tails looking over his shoulder at the pair of them with mischief in his eyes,

"Oh come off it Sonic; I can think of a few places Amy might want to be on your body but your back sure isn't one of them..."

"Stop, stop, you're all as bad as each other", Cream pleaded as the innuendo reached fever pitch and the toe of Sonic's boots rapped the back of his adopted brothers' head in retribution for his comment; however, fortunately for the rabbit someone else had taken an interest in proceedings and decided, like she had, that enough was enough; _and, unlike Cream_; Lara had an evil smile on her lips as she took her eyes off her favourite young Mobian and gripped the armrests of her chair with purpose; _I've got the heavy artillery to make sure what I want to happen gets done_.

"Now now boys, Cream's got a point", seeing that in the hurly-burly of the conversation her voice was getting drowned out, the echidna decided it was time to plot out firing solutions and preparing for bombardment, "settle down, the lot of you; after all, I'd hate to break out the little black book again".

The reaction to this simple little statement was almost complete pandemonium; immediately on hearing it the other two echidnas in the room flew into paroxysms writhing and profusions of panic-driven promises,

"No, we'll be good, we'll be perfect... oh we'll be _so_ good..."

"What", Amy wasn't sure whether to be amazed or amused at the spectacle before her; Knuckles was by far and away the most rough-and-tumble Mobian she knew, and to give Wyn his credit he'd been in a few scrapes himself, most notably to rescue Lara herself from when the Dark Legion had snatched her – what was in this mysterious novel that could put the frighteners on them so badly?

"What book are you on about Lara? And if it works this well"; _you asked for it, after those comments_; though not normal vengeful in mood or temperament, Amy had been pushed to the limit and was ready to grasp any straw that might be able to bring Sonic back onto a tight leash, "can I have a copy?" Lara chuckled, one hand retreating to cradle her baby bump as she answered,

"A woman after my own heart Ames; sorry though, I don't think this one's going to help you. The book I'm on about, and those two big, brave boys are cowering at", she smirked at her husband and son as they both cringing in their seats, "is on the table over there – Cream would you mind?" The rabbit shook her head as she reached over from her seat and plucked a small, tightly-bound black volume from the top of the table itself, holding it up to see the title as Wyn, just behind her on his seat, thrust himself as far away from the tome as possible as though repelled by its mere presence,

"No problem Lara; hmm", she flicked through a few pages, smiled, laughed a little before snapping it shut and tossing it towards where Amy sat, "heh, I like your style".

"Thank you Cream", the echidna lady accepted the praise deferentially as the book landed in Amy's lap; picking it up enquiringly, the undergraduate hedgehog took in the title before opening it at a random page, Sonic looking in over her shoulder,

"Hala – gentle by nature; Hale, defender of those he loves him and who love him; oh", finally realising what the book was as she hadn't been able to read the flowing red script on the front cover, Amy giggled a little and stood up to put the book back where it had come from, "nice one Lara, though from what I heard it didn't do much for a harmonious marriage".

"Ah but we all must make sacrifices for the greater good Amy", the echidna counselled sagely, smiling at her husband as Wynmacher huffed an exaggerated, if accepting sigh, "and as far as I'm concerned Kneecaps is the right one for my little boy".

"And I agree, though I have to say if you'd gotten in touch with me earlier I'd have sent a book of baby names from the lands below..." At this point she was interrupted by a harsh, harried growl of a voice from the cheap seats,

"You dare", Knuckles pointed her out with a trembling glove, too many bad memories of the battles he'd had to call a ceasefire to as he'd presided over as his step-brothers' parents had wrestled to and fro over what his name should be flooding over his conscience, "you even dare..."

"And I agree", Wynmacher threw his weight behind his stepson's impassioned aspersions with a pained grimace, "after all that palaver the only time I want to see that book again is either on the stall at our next car boot sale or on the top of our next bonfire".

"Ah Wyn, you don't mean that", Lara smiled, sugar-sweet simper curdling into a mildly acidic smirk as she twisted the knife even further, "you always said you wanted a big family".

"I've changed my mind", the chef riposted without a seconds' pause, "one's enough after all this trouble, I've decided, and don't you start", his pointed finger deflated his wifes' attempted answer before it had even left her lips, "trust me it's not just a woman's prerogative to change their mind, especially on matters like this".

Whatever Lara, or indeed anyone else, might have wanted to say to this was lost forever as the thread of conversation was snipped neatly in twain by the ringing of the doorbell. As everyone swapped glances Tails, whose eyes had immediately flicked between the respective owners of the property and realised they were as nonplussed as everyone else, took matters into his own hands and stood up, heading towards the door at the same time as scratching down the latest itch, this one on his shoulder and requiring the removal of a small clump of fur to dispose of completely. As he disappeared Cream leant backwards in time to whisper,

"Who're we missing; I thought we were all here?"

"So did I", Wyn replied as he did a quick head-count, "no, I'm almost certain that's it – no idea who..."

"All right", he was cut off by an excited shout from the front door; whoever this mysterious stranger was Tails obviously knew him or her, his voice getting louder as he advanced back towards the lounge, "what are you doing here – oh, doesn't matter; come in, come in". With that the door swung open and the fox bounded in, all worries and itches forgotten as the Mobian at his back came in, smiling as the jaws of the assembled drops at his sudden appearance,

"_Shadow?!_"

XXX

The gasped exclamation was still echoing in the air as Sonic, as always the first to react, was in front of his ebon counterpart, gripping his hand and shaking enthusiastically, though his voice betrayed inherent confusion,

"What, why are you here Shads, shouldn't you be working? I mean, not nice to see you, or not that it's nice to see you, I mean..."

"Sonic", the black hedgehog drawled lazily at the same time as drink in the spectacle before him; _and the last time I saw you this flustered was...when exactly?_; "spit your foot out your mouth and think before you speak, hard as that might be", understanding began to seep into the hero's eyes as the criticism stung but before Sonic could do more that draw out the venom the former ultimate life-form had left him in the dust, "but anyway, yes I am at work, but no I'm not here on business; sorry if you were expecting any post Lara". He nodded deferentially in the echidna lady's departure, grateful when, after a seconds' thought, she shook her head,

"No, no I'm pretty sure we're all okay for now; so", she drew in a breath, fortifying herself to tackle the next, crucial question head-on, "if you're not here on an errand why are you here, not that it's not good to see you?" The black hedgehog sniggered slightly,

"Always nice to feel appreciated, but actually I thought I'd be passing on a message", he sobered up rapidly, down to business as he knew easily that, with his running record being what it was, too much longer and people at the C.A. would soon start wondering what was delaying him, "having the lot of you here's an unexpected bonus". Reading from his posture that her friend wanted to make this quick for some reason Amy quickly dived in to stop the conversation getting bogged down,

"Okay Shads, what's it you need to tell us?"

The question, it seemed, brought Shadow up short for a minute; _what was it I needed...oh yeah_; reminding himself what he needed to say and how much of a let-down in was going to be to at least two of his closest friends, the former ultimate life-form nevertheless tried to put as much of a positive spin on it as he could,

"Ah, yeah, that; well sorry there's no easy way to put this but we're going to have to can you two coming over later – Julie's not well I'm afraid".

"Oh no", even as the hedgehog fancied he could hear the explosions from the bombshell he'd dropped echoing into the distance, a lone voice spoke up from the devastation; glancing over, he took in Cream's troubled expression with a sad but accepting smile, "what's the matter with her? She's okay right?"

"She will be floppy", Shadow's smile suddenly blossomed into something approaching warmth, though there was still an element of ice-cold mischief in the expression as he answered, "something's gone through the EST like Sonic after chilli-dogs; don't look at me like that you know it's true", the ebon hedgehog took a moment to defend himself as Sonic tried to glare a hole through him before getting back on track, "don't ask me what it is exactly because I have no idea; all I know is that it's main symptoms are D and V".

"What's...?"

"You don't want to know", such was Lara's vehemence to override the question from her future childs' godfather she half-stood without gripping the arms of her seat, "just take it from me as a nurse you don't want to know, and if I'm any judge Shadow's probably wishing he _didn't_ know right now".

"You got that right Lara; urgh!" The aforementioned hedgehog shuddered; horrid memories of walking into his home on Thursday night only to be confronted by a scenario that seemed to have been half-casualty department, half-post apocalypse, complete with Julie-Su playing the part of an anaemic zombie with moans and all, was not something he wanted to have to deal with all that often. Finally slamming the closet doors shut on those particular skeletons with a concerted mental effort, he faced his audience once more and reiterated his message, depressing as it might have been for both himself and his friends,

"So yeah, sorry to be the bearer of bad news but you coming over just can't happen; Jules is getting over it we're pretty sure of that but I'd hate the two of you to come down with whatever's got claws into her", he sniggered slightly, not quite able to resist the idea of a joke, no matter how obscure, at Julie's slight expense, "not unless Tails installed a portaloo in the Tornado at least". Sonic winced,

"That bad is it? Well, don't worry about it mate, and tell her not to worry either".

"Worry?" Shadow snorted, folding his arms with a dismissive expression, "Why would I do that – soldier-girl's gone and nailed herself a good deal with this one. I didn't realise but as soon as the EST got wind of what was going on, not that that should've taken them long", as he wafted a hand under his nose and took in the grimaces from his friends he guessed he'd made his point, "it threw some kind of emergency protocol or other into place. Basically Julie's now relaxing at home with an automatic week off and she's not letting me forget it, cow", he muttered under his breath; unfortunately, breath alone was not sufficient to hide words from the keenest ears in the room,

"Now, now Shads, don't be mean", Rouge chided her former team mate gently, smiling as the black hedgehogs' scowl lightened a little, "anyway if it was roles reversed don't tell me you wouldn't be doing the exact same thing".

"Of course I wouldn't; I'd be worse", finally breaking his facade, Shadow chuckled again before realising he might have been leaving some of his assembled friends in the dark; _so, time to put that right here and now_; "Ames, if I were you when you finish that degree-thingy you're doing I'd try and move up here and get a post with the EST; I think they're after criminal profilers at the minute. Thing is, Echidnopolis law is dead relaxed compared to the lands below; if you're employed in the civil service like Jules and I are and you go down ill, you get an automatic week off if it's a contagious disease". Sonic made a law that was half-gargled shout, half-disbelieving snort,

"You what? Jesus, right – Shadow, find me a pad to rent up here", he declared in a commanding tone, "I go ill down there and that's it sonny, unpaid leave until you're well unless it's over a week, then it starts coming off your annual holiday. A whole week off, just for a sniffle". Having watched the blue hedgehogs' performance Shadow felt it was time to interdict at this point,

"I wish it was just a sniffle Sonic, for my sake more than Julies'; think about it though, compared to Station Square, Angel Island doesn't have that big a population..."

"Though Echidnopolis has helped in that regard", Knuckles cut in, a gruff chuckle on his lips as he finished, "now the old saying no man is an island really does hold true". Shadow bobbed his head obligingly before continuing to get back on track,

"True, true, can't hold that one against you Knucks, but apart from that it's really a case of the population's so small it's really easy for any bug that's pretty contagious to go on a rampage up here. It's one of the reasons it's quite hard to get the paperwork to live up here at the minute – the council's trying to work out what diseases it needs to screen for and set up the right programmes to deal with them".

"That's certainly true; I think they were just about to start putting some of them into practise when I put my feet up for a bit", Lara chipped in before looking across at her husband, "but that enforced isolation policy's pretty common – I know I'm in it as a nurse, Wyn, you get longer don't you, as a food-handler?"

"Yep, I'm classified as high risk; two weeks for me for anything airborne or gastro-intestinal", the chef explained before deciding to cut this meeting short while there was still a fairly light mood to the atmosphere, "anyhow you", he pointed Shadow out, the black hedgehog seeming to start as Wyn's finger homed in on him, "as far as I can see there's nothing wrong with you for now, so you'd best get back to the C.A. before they start sending out search parties; what is it your mum says Cream, skedal, something like that?" The rabbit smiled at his mangled pronunciation,

"Skedaddle", she explained before looking at Shadow directly with a raised eyebrow and cheeky smile, "which is just what you need to do Shads; quit skiving around here and get back to work".

A succession of harsh gasps followed this pronunciation; Cream verbally pummelling someone was about as rare as Rouge tucking into a bitter-root dish; judging by the look on the black hedgehog's face, it wasn't immediately obvious which of them could have left the nastier taste in his mouth,

"Hmm, sounds like someone doesn't know what it's like to have a proper job and is therefore going to have an unpleasant surprise when the time comes; don't say I didn't warn you Bun", the rabbit scowled at the use of her hated pet-name but couldn't hold it, instead standing up and quickly embracing the ebon Mobian as he extended an arm,

"You know I didn't mean it".

"I do", he whispered back before letting her go and raising her voice, "unfortunately though, she's right; I'll be on my way – again though, we're both sorry about it".

"And again you needn't be", Amy told him in no uncertain terms, standing up and gripping his hand softly, not wanting to embarrass him further by hugging him as Cream had, "just make sure you treat Julie okay; we'll look after ourselves". At the mention of his flatmates' name Shadow snorted softly, sidling backwards towards the door at the same time as answer,

"Treat Julie; when do I not end up treating her one way or another..."

"Treating her badly doesn't count"; _damn, shot down_; as Amy torpedoed his parting line all he could do was try to salvage his dignity before taking his leave,

"...Spoilsport", he pouted, taking a crumb of solace from the sight of the pink hedgehog forced to try hard not to laugh before he glanced around the room one last time, nodded towards where Sonic was sat down in a final farewell and stepped backwards out of the lounge. He disappeared from sight, there was the sound of the front door opening, a soft slam as it settled back into place, and he was gone.

XXX

As he left there was a settling of the air around them, though before the depression could sink too low Wyn pierced the oppressive cloud with a low whistle, looking over at where two of his guest sat shrugging at each other,

"Well, that's a sod and a half; sorry about that you two"; _oh, you meant us?_; belatedly realising she and her boyfriend were being addressed, Amy looked up in time to catch the tail end of the chef's commiserations, "looks like your luck's about as rum as mine at the minute; came that close to dropping a knife through my toe last week". He held up thumb and forefinger about half an inch apart, grateful when Amy winced as everyone else seemed to have shrugged off his narrow escape as old news by now. Sonic, on the other hand, simply snorted dismissively,

"Huh, after this long and this many slip-ups Wyn I sometimes think I get more nervous when things are going right than if something's gone wrong", looking across at where the chef seemed to be having a hard time digesting that circular logic, the hedgehog elaborated a little with a tale of his own, "I've dodged bullets, bombs and bloated scientists with egos bigger than mine so many times when my life flashes before my eyes I know when to blink and miss the boring bits".

Wyn started to laugh at that one but, as he did so, he noticed Sonic turn away from him slightly, grinning still but the expression on his lips not quite matching up to what was being shown in his eyes; they were deeper, a little more serious than the echidna could remember seeing them before. Perturbed, Wyn tried to get a clearer look, dredging his memory as he tried to recall some of the stories his step-son had said in relation to the azure Mobian sitting across from him; from what he could remember the words were few and for the most part terse if begrudgingly admiration and he had dismissed them as being little more than typical stories for the boys; _now though_; despite himself, the older Mobian found the line between fact and fiction starting to blur before him; _why is it now, I don't feel like that's as true as I imagined it?_ He opened his mouth, the very question framed in his lips and on the lip of his tongue, when a sudden thunderclap echoed through his living room and broke his line of thought completely, the excited squeal that tore from a rabbits' throat drowning out any question that may have been fermenting in his own mind,

"Oh, oh that's it", Cream's excitement seemed to get the better of her for the minute as she turned around and speared a finger through Lara, "I remember it now, I remember what I wanted to see – your pictures!"

For a minute the echidna lady looked as dumbfounded as everyone felt; the realisation dawning over her face was like the sun breaking the grip of the night over the earth as Lara seemed to recall something she herself had forgotten, Cream's words the galvanising touch to her own memory as she reached down to the side of her chair herself.

"Of course, stupid of me – Wyn you should have reminded me…"

"What?" Stupefied, her husband could only stutter his self-defence, "How's it my fault?"

"No idea, you were just sat there looking like a convenient excuse", she explained before sitting back up straight, a thin cardboard folder that had been tucked in the side pocket of her chair now in her hand, "still, now that's aside, yes you're quite right I had the last of my scans about a fortnight ago; Kulo was sweet enough to drop them over the second they rolled off the printing presses, here you are". She'd barely extended the folder forwards when Cream all but took her hand off, the rabbit obviously brimming with excitement as she retreated to her seat and flipped the top open, almost ripping the cardboard as she did so. Everyone else swapped confused and, in some cases, concerned glances at the youngest Mobian present began rifling thought the contents – before anyone could question her outright however, she pulled something from its formerly comfortable resting place and exposed it to the light, expression melting from feverish determination to rapt adoration as she cocked her head to the side, drinking in the strangely-dark picture in her hands with a daft smile,

"Aww, so cute now, and so close – ahh, I can't wait!"

XXX

As the rabbit ranted on the small pictures held in her hands her ravings were cut short by a chuckle from Wyn, the chef putting a hand on her shoulder at the same time as peer over her shoulder to see the picture itself,

"Well if it's any consolation Cream you won't have to wait much longer", he explained sagely, glancing across at his wife as she turned away slightly, not quite comfortable being the centre of attention as she neared the end of her pregnancy, "he'll have broken out into the big wide world about two months from now at the latest; sure you can't hold it in for just that long?"

"I'll try", Cream sighed, sliding the stiff paper back into the folder and seemingly oblivious to the interest her actions up to now had generated, "I know echidnas are born from eggs, so how long does it take them to hatch? It's not as long as birds is it?" _Umm_; not knowing any birds personally, Lara was forced to think on the fly even as the interest from the rest of her guests began pinging on her radar,

"I, ah, I don't think so Cream; round about a month is average, though I think with you Knuckles", the older echidna's first son looked up at his name, just about avoiding an embarrassed squirm as his mother dredged up a memory from the past he couldn't understand, "you were smashing down the walls after about three weeks…"

"First time you've ever been early for anything", Sonic needled his friend teasingly before turning to Lara, ears flat and spines depressed as he apologised for butting in, "sorry but I just couldn't let that one slip; don't get me wrong your little boy's a real asset when the brown smelly stuff hits the large whirling air-displacement unit, but just occasionally his timing's not all it could be", his smirk grew more rueful as he rubbed down his back, flicking his eyes Knuckles' way as the guardian glowered, "having an echidna tunnel collapsing under you when going at about Mach 2 is not a pain-free experience". Knuckles merely snorted, arms folded as he deftly parried Sonic's verbal thrust and countered with a haymaker of his own,

"Neither is having half a ton of soil land on your head because some idiot above you couldn't follow a map and ended up pounding his clod-hoppers right over your carefully-laid out and supported excavations – for someone supposedly light on their feet you can't half pack some weight behind you spiky"; _think I came off best with that one, good – now that's settled through_; turning his attention to a different target now the blue hedgehog had been put back on his place, Knuckles lightened his tone in order to inquire politely, "anyway, getting back on topic, what're you looking at flop?"

It took Cream a minute to recognise the echidna was addressing her so rapt was her attention on what she had so recently held before her eyes; when she finally became aware of his gradually more penetrating eyes she gave a sudden shocked gasp before regaining her composure and, fighting hard to keep herself from blushing, gabbled a quick explanation,

"Oh, I'm sorry, I, I, er, that is it's, well you should know Knuckles", gradually gaining in confidence the rabbit was grateful to see the guardian knit his brows in confusion as he tried to rationalise what she could be talking about before she took the matter into her own hands; in the blink of an eye the folder was flying through the air, both her adopted sister and her partner all but throwing themselves backwards to avoid the airborne parchment but Amy at least with enough sense left to reach forwards, thrusting her arms up to protect herself; more by accident than design the folder slapped smartly into her left palm and her hand snapped shut around it in reflex. After a second of stilling her sudden panicked breathing, the undergraduate hedgehog slowly let her arms fall, retracting the mysterious object back into herself with a puzzled expression and one eyebrow quirked towards the rabbit sat.

For her part Cream admitted nothing, her expression placidly neutral in the face of Amy's unspoken probing; ambitions thwarted, the rose hedgehog was left with no alternative but to explore the mystery for herself; slipping in a hand just as the younger Mobian had, she felt something like a thick but less flexible piece of paper under her glove and slowly began to tug it clear of its protective sheath. _What is this, a photograph or something?_; if it was it had been blown up to huge proportions for a reason Amy couldn't even begin to fathom, especially as, now that she could see more of it in the light of the living room, it appeared to be a black-and-white, and a particularly fuzzy one at that – she couldn't make out anything even vaguely recognisable in the confused muddle of shadow and blurred white shapes before her. She tilted it this way and that, trying to decipher some hidden meaning in the smears before her but defeated utterly, perplexed by something that not even her university studies had left her completely unprepared for,

"Oh, I've seen a few of these before", the voice in her ear almost made her jump; she'd been so absorbed in her own musings that she'd completely not noticed Sonic peering in a the picture from the side of her – as she looked on with bemusement plain on her face her blue counterpart smiled and snapped his fingers as though remembering something, "they seem to be all the rage where I work, every time one of the girls gets herself that way the first thing most of the blokes would hear about it was when they brought their scan results in".

"Scan results?" It didn't look like any sort of electrogram Amy had ever come across before, though admittedly her course wouldn't touch on that topic in any great depth until the next summer. Luckily, once more, Sonic seemed to come to her aid without realising it,

"Yeah, these are ultrasounds, aren't they Lara? Oh good", as the echidna lady in question nodded the hedgehog let himself grin, satisfied he'd got it right this time around, "wasn't sure if they did things the same up here as they do around my office; had a couple of the girls I work with fall pregnant recently. Not that it makes a lot of difference to me though", he added, a tad ruefully as he looked away from the scans Amy, now she was aware what she held in her hands, was fully immersed in, "I can never make anything out of them – they're like those pictures you had to see through to get the picture, I was always hopeless with them".

"Amongst other things", Rouge cut in snidely, earning a toxic smirk for her trouble before Tails cut in after ridding himself of a persistent itch at the back of his left knee; _ah, why can't everything feel that good…?_;

"Maybe, maybe not, but the point is it doesn't matter what he looks like at the minute; I'm sure that if Kneecaps takes after either of his parents he'll be such a cute puggle when he hatches out – well, he will to me at least, I'll love him even…"

It was at this point that the fox suddenly became aware of the fact that he was the focal point of attention for pretty much the entire room; every eye seemed trained on him as his hackles rose unintentionally at the focussed attention – due to remorseless torment in his early life due to his unique genetic abnormality, he had never been entirely comfortably as the centre of attention. Trying to think of something to get him out this unforeseen predicament, Tails found even his mammoth intellect dwarfed for an instant by a challenge of this scale in such an unexpected timeframe; even as he wetted suddenly dry lips with the tip of his tongue, the mechanical genius found the challenge replaced even as he raced to solve it, swept aside by the incredulous voice of his godson's future mother,

"He'll be a cute _what_?"

XXX

"Uhh...", noticing the expressions ranged against him varying from quizzical at best to downright odd at best, the fox wasn't sure exactly what he'd said wrong, "...a puggle? I looked it up online – it's the name for a baby echidna".

"Not on Angel Island it isn't", Wynmacher informed him in no uncertain terms though not exactly unkindly, trying to wrap his tongue and head around the unfamiliar term, "we just call them babies up here; what kind of moron came up with that one? A puggle", his face screwed up in distaste, "way to mess up a child's early life there genius". Seeing her adopted brother's ears droop at the same time as realise Wyn's comment wasn't directly aimed at the fox himself, Amy took it upon himself to defend the fox at the cost of an almighty castigation of her pride; _here's hoping batgirl keeps her mouth shut for once_;

"Ah it's not so bad Wyn; never really did me, or even us", she indicated Sonic as everyone looked her way, the blue hedgehog cringing as he realised what she was driving at in order to take the heat off the Mobian sitting on the floor in front of him, "any harm – how do you think we felt going through the first couple of years with everyone calling us hoglets?"

_As expected, though it could have been worse_; the usual suspects of the guardian duo had of course snorted with badly-stifled laughter at that one, and even Cream had cracked something like a smile at the term, but overall the hedgehog felt it had been worth it. Typically, just as that thought registered in his mind, Rouge had to open her mouth and exert a little more strain on his tolerance threshold with a well-aimed verbal dart,

"Aww, sounds too cute for you Sonic; well", the former government employee smirked, her gaze flashing to his midriff as she continued; "at least they got the hog bit right". Just about avoiding a blush at the comment, not least because it was partially true; he had let himself go a bit since all the dark clouds on the horizon of his life had been finally blown away and he'd taken on office hours, Sonic used his light-speed mental reflexes to try and come up with a counter-punch, only to hear a voice from over his shoulder landing forwards like the tip of a rapier,

"Oh is that right Rouge?" With a deftly-spoken spin Amy turned the tables on the smug guardian, "Well if that's the case I'm sure you'd have no problem telling us what your species calls the younger members of its generation? Come on"; _gotcha_; seeing the bat tense slightly at her words the undergraduate had to suppress a hiss of triumph; _she's becoming more recalcitrant to speak – must have hit something juicy_; "we're all waiting".

"You want to know?"; _just play it cool – no-one here's going to know any different_; adopting a lackadaisical expression in the face of her interrogator Rouge lent forwards, chin of her fist as she smirked again, "Well sorry to burst your bubble but we fruit bats are just plain boring, or sensible depending on how you look at it..."

"Oh no you're not!"

The voice piped up unexpectedly; with dread pooling into a cold puddle in her stomach Rouge dragged her gaze around to leadenly let it fall on where Tails sat grinning up at her, the look on his face giving lie, at least in her mind, to his former protestations that he was in no way related to Sonic at all. Still smiling and realising he had his audience in the palm of his hand, the fox continued in a dark, lilting tone,

"Now now batgirl, don't you be telling porkie-pies"; _cheers for earlier Sonic – favour returned_; as he watched the bat start to glower at him, the fox realised it was now or never, "if you don't tell them all the truth I will". Rouge scowled, trying to work out if the mechanical genius was bluffing or not, when another, deeper growl very close to her ear made her jump, heart hammering in her chest as her husband made a dread promise,

"And if he doesn't I'll make sure you do", Knuckles informed her in no uncertain terms, expression more than backing up his words, "honestly Rouge, I thought you'd left that secretive side behind". Stung by this, she glanced over her shoulder with a hurt expression on her face,

"I have, I just, well, we don't really talk about this sort of thing much", she faltered, realising she didn't have much room to wriggle out of this situation and deciding the only real way to go was forwards, "okay, you got me beat; I was a bitten when I was younger, and a very cute one too if you must know; that's what mum always told me anyway".

The time lag between this admission coming in to the open and the first comment made against it felt like an eternity to Rouge, an anguished eon of trying to brace for a mental lash to her pride. Even so, the second she saw who was going to be the one wielding the whip she would have almost traded the Master Emerald away to put herself back in just waiting for the hammer to fall,

"A bitten hey? Looks like you might have a precedent there Knucks", Sonic commented, looking highly amused at the circumstances as he pointed out where the bat was trying unsuccessfully to zap him into silence with a dirty look, "once bittened twice shy, what do you reckon?" The guardian looked away, clearing his throat self-consciously as he realised what his close friend was driving at and looking to quickly divert the attention elsewhere,

"Maybe, maybe not; anyway"; _salvation_; a flash of orange in her peripheral vision allowed him a convenient target to focus attention on, and a perfectly legitimate target at that, "you dished it out foxboy, let's see you take it; what are baby foxes called?" To his consternation however, Tails merely sniggered slightly, curling his namesakes around into his lap to scratch one of them, leaving a trail of long orange hairs in a downy curtain on the floor to the side of him,

"Oops, sorry Lara; I promise I'll do the hoovering before I leave", he muttered abashedly, not letting his expression brighten until the lady of the house shook her head and smiled acquiescingly; as soon as she'd done so, however, the fox was more than eager to look Knuckles in the eye and smirk,

"Luckily enough nothing too embarrassing; baby foxes are fox cubs, though for some reason we get called kits a lot as well, no idea why", he shrugged as the two familiar terms rolled off his ego like water from a ducks' back before he looked around, directed purpose in his eyes this time as his attention, along with that of everyone else in the room at the time, swung around onto the only untouched target left in the place, "still, that's all the species present accounted for save..."

"Oh take your pick", pre-empting the forthcoming strike Cream chortled and began ticking the names off on her fingers, "there's baby rabbits, obviously, bunny-rabbits or bunnies, or bun-buns if you're my grandma"; _this isn't too bad – I'd usually be blushing by now_; taking extra confidence in her spurt of interest, the younger Mobian kept her momentum going and ploughed on, "kittens, kits, lapins or laps; leverets, though technically that's just young hares, and probably half a dozen or so I've missed – well, as you can see", no other terms springing immediately to mind Cream let her hands fall open in a gesture of weary acceptance, "out of all of us I got lumbered with the worst of it. And what's wrong with puggle anyway?" Looking directly at Wynmacher the rabbit raised an eyebrow, absent-mindedly noticing where Sonic had stood up and was walking around stiffly – after a life on the run he wasn't one for sitting still for any great length of time,

"I think it's alright – it's cute and funny, just like a baby, whatever species it is".

Confronted by this logic the chef was forced into sudden and rapid back-pedalling, cursing despite himself as he tried hard to think of a convincing comeback and definitely not helped in this regard as another of his guests spoke up at this point, Sonic by now behind where his step-son and daughter-in-law were sat,

"You know she's right Wyn; don't try to come up with something that you know's just not going to come off right. And besides"; _call me ugly would you Knuckles?_; "for some echidnas it's the best-looking they'll ever be", at this point and grinning like a fool, the hedgehog reach over and patted Knuckles on the shoulder in mock-sympathy, shaking his head, "from puggle to pug-ugly. Tragic".

XXX

Showing a good deal of good sense as well as his standard lightning reflexes, Sonic sprang away from his victim immediately after delivering that statement and settled back to watch the forthcoming carnage; to his moderate surprise however, the explosion he'd predicted never arrived. Instead Knuckles merely hunched forwards on the settee, fists clenched so tightly it was a very lucky thing he'd just put down his now-empty mug – digging shards of china from the skin that had crushed them was a painful experience,

"Mum", looking up and speaking in a voice so thick it could have been used for road tar, the echidna spoke glottally as he tried to block out the spectacle of everyone trying to avoid eye contact with him for fear of breaking down into unstoppable laughter, "I know he's a guest and everything but I want to hurt him. Please don't tell me I can't". For her part Lara, seemingly immune to the prevalent mirth in Sonic's last statement, merely remained in her seat demurely and giving a gracious answer,

"Sorry kid, 'fraid I can't let that happen – it takes ages to wash blood out of this carpet. Although", her velvet tone suddenly became shot through with solid steel as she transferred a suddenly glower to where her sons' friend stood smug and proud, "if I thought for a minute he was making out that my little boy was unattractive, I'd probably have to hurt him myself, unfortunately".

"Ah, not in the slightest Lara", luckily this time Sonic had taken the unusual step of thinking two moves ahead rather than just trusting to fate and making things up on the fly, and this time it had paid off dividends, "Knuckles is what he is because, let's face it, being small and cuddly really isn't high on the list for being an ideal guardian is it? I mean", he just couldn't help himself, "when you've got a face that'd make Metal Sonic back off with a look and a set of manners to match you're more than halfway there to making sure no-one touches what you're out to protect". Knuckles' smile, already at best a rictus fixed grin, seemed to stretch ever thinner until, matched by the echidna shooting to his feet and Sonic diving for cover behind the other settee while Amy held a head to her hand, it snapped in twain completely,

"Sorry mum, I'm going to have to do this; stop dodging around the furniture", Knuckles thundered, charging after the blue blur as Sonic bobbed and weaved for all he was worth, knowing that if the echidna was able to get hold of him it was pretty much curtains as far as he was concerned, "take what's coming to you as a Mobian and hold your head still…"

"And while we're on the topic", as hero and guardian seemed to carry on their lunatic game of tag Rouge raised her voice, "what was that about all guardians being ugly as sin? You do know who you're talking to here Sonic, or are you too busy playing kiss-chase with my husband to figure it out yet?"

At that comment both Mobians stopped absolutely dead, horror writ large on their faces and, inadvertently, saving Tails from an inglorious end as a messy smear on the floor as, consumed by hysteria, he'd inadvertently flopped right into his elder brothers' running path.

"Rouge", unusually for the pair of them it was Knuckles who spoke first, Sonic apparently too deeply mentally traumatised to consider an appropriate response just yet; the echidna had to lay a large paw on the back of the settee were Amy seemed torn between rage at her boyfriends' former shenanigans and laughter at his current predicament, "please for the love of the Master, never, _ever_ even think something like that ever again – it's bad enough I have to put up with Sonic as a sometime-acquaintance, anything deeper than that and I'd be tying a brick to my ankles and running off the islands' edge". He looked forwards at where Sonic seemed to have ground completely to a halt and shuddered once more at his wife's insinuation; _that wasn't the first time she's come out with something like that_; once more a half-recalled memory of the first time he and his then-girlfriend had shared a civilised bed together in the light of reuniting with Lara-Le on the day Echidnopolis was released from the prison Dimitri and his own distant ancestor had sealed it within; _and it still got the same effect it did last time – damn you batgirl, I will make you pay for this_.

"Glad to hear it", as his guest and step-son slowly began to recover from the verbal shell-shock Wynmacher quickly saw a way to turn the situation to his advantage, "anyway, while you're both stood there looking gormless you might as well make yourselves useful", as they both looked over at him the chef hefted his empty drinking cup suggestively at the same time as direct his gaze pointedly at where the now-empty tea pot sat off to the side of him, "I could do with another drink".

Any thoughts the fingered duo might have harboured were promptly squashed under the combined glares of mother, wife and girlfriend respectively; without a word passed between them the two friends Sonic scooted around the room herding up used cups and attempting to thaw Amy's frosty expression with his patented smile while Knuckles hefted the tea tray and scooped onto it the teapot and the biscuit tin, idly realising both of them needed filling before they could be brought out again, and allowing Sonic to deposit all the cups he'd collected onto it,

"I'll wash, you dry?"

"Sounds fair", the echidna grunted, heading for the door before a final witty sarcasm from his wife brought him up painfully short,

"Oh Knuckie";_ I am going to make you pay for this batgirl_; only by soothing his bruised ego with such promised platitudes could he bring himself to slowly trudge his way towards the kitchen, Sonic dogging his heels as he carried the last few mugs in his hands, "don't forget I take honey in my tea rather than sugar now; you know he's such a sweetheart these days", the bat grinned sweetly to the rest of the room making the male population grimace and the female half snigger; _sorry Knucks, I'll apologise later but right now it's just too much fun_; "just think Ames, you've got all this to look forwards to you lucky thing". The pink hedgehog snorted, jerked her thumb over her shoulder as her boyfriend disappeared through the doorway, though out of respect for her partner she waited until he was out of earshot before answering her friend,

"Huh, I can dream, for now", she finished darkly, an evil smirk on her face telling everyone present in no uncertain terms that this particular dream may not have been as far from being realised as it once had been in the past, "though I'm sure Sonic would probably count it as a nightmare". Rouge chuckled, running her tongue along her teeth to deliver a devilish pout,

"If it were me I'm sure he would but somehow I reckon he'd make an exception in your case"; _and he would_; despite their long-standing rivalry the bat knew enough about her verbal sparring partner to realise when he was and wasn't serious; _and as far as it goes with you Pinky, he'd run through hell in his bare feet to make sure you had everything you needed._ Luckily everyone seemed to miss her second of introspection, the convenient gasp of inspiration provided by none other than Amy herself,

"Oh, sorry Rouge", ever the lady, Amy remembered to apologise for cutting her friend off before shifting her attention to someone else, "I knew there was something I needed to know; you know you made Tails a godfather…?" This statement and this statement alone made Wyn laugh, glancing at the fox in question with humorous but still warm eyes,

"As if he'd let us forget that – sorry, carry on Amy".

"…Right, well do you, as in the echidnas, have something like a christening celebration, you know when Kneecaps turns a certain age? Or is your definition of a godparent different from ours?"

_Oh yes, this one is mine!_; before either echidna in the room could even consider answering Tails had flipped over from his sitting position and was looking up at them whilst on all fours, excitement betrayed by the way his twin propellers were swishing away behind him like a pair of woolly orange tights left out in a strong breeze,

"Leave this one to me; I'm going to make sure the time I spent reading all that paperwork was worth it", taking a stunned silence as an affirmative, the fox quickly pushed himself to his feet and spun around elegantly in the same movement, looking at his new audience with a small smile evident on his face. Blowing a few stray whiskers from his nose, the mechanic clasped his hands gently in front of him as he began his explanation,

"Well it's not an easy question to answer Ames; fact is you're right and wrong at the same time. Echidnas, from what I read at least, do have a ceremony but it's not strictly religious like a christening is; what happens is once Kneecaps is weaned, a bit of his egg-shell – they keep a small piece after he hatches – gets crushed up and sprinkled into water. The main part of the celebration is he drinks a bit of it and is bathed in the rest, something to do with him being slightly independent of him mother at that point", he looked over towards Lara at this point; as she nodded he continued, slightly emboldened by her faith in his explanation thus far, "and at that point, not meaning to blow my own trumpet, I step in", once more as he always seemed to do when talking about his future godson, the fox stood up taller, buoyed up from within by some inner force that had always been absent before that point, "fact is an echidna godparent is not the same as what you might call a normal godparent, in fact godparent isn't the right name for it at all is it?"

"No", Lara agreed sagely before looking over at the rest of her guests with a sly smile, "oh don't look so shocked, we're not that backwards up here – Wyn and I just found out the closest thing the lands below have to a remembrancer and used that name, that's all. We didn't shanghai the foxboy into this, if that's what you're worried about; believe it or not he knew what he was getting himself into", she added at the end, a seemingly throw-away comment that nevertheless set more than one mind in the room at ease; _good, last thing Sonic and I need on out hand right now is a legal wrangle, we're still trying to iron out our housing contract as it is!_ Unaware of how much his brother's girlfriend had just been looking out for him and thrown a little off-stride by Lara's last line, Tails nevertheless took a breath to recover before doing his best to soldier on,

"Right, well so I'm not a godparent, I'm technically a rememberer, or something like that, it doesn't really matter – basically what it means is that when I sign on that contract, and it is a legal document, I'm saying that if anything happens to Lara and Wyn, and for whatever reason the rest of Kneecaps' biological family can't take him in, it's up to me to look after him until he's eighteen at least, though of course", self-consciousness creeping up on him at last, Tails scratched the back of his head and smiled a little sheepishly, "if anything like that was to happen God forbid, he'd always have a home under my roof".

An interesting point about explosions is that they very rarely happen completely; there usually is no big bang but rather a more drawn-out rumbling, grating noise that rises in pitch and volume until it crescendos in an ear-shattering eruption of noise and, in some cases, light. Thus it was in this case, where the slight silence that had greeted the end of Tails' impromptu speech was answered initially by what seemed to be a tinkling noise, then a more violent clash, then finally the unmistakable sound of shattering china from the kitchen, followed by a loud shout of shock.

XXX

Due to the sensitive hearing gifted to her from her species, Rouge was the first to become aware in the change in circumstances and therefore she was also the first to react to it; she was stood in the kitchen doorway before anyone else had even stood up. Trying to take in what had happened in an instant, the bat found her effort hampered as a sudden gabbled question from Sonic threw her off her train of thought,

"Knucks man, what happened? You all right mate?"

"Sonic", seeing the hedgehog's whitened face as she could see nothing of her husband beyond his unexpressive back, the bat quickly marched over and tried to scrub the panic from her mind, dimly aware of the others congregating behind her in an effort to find out what all the fuss was about, "Sonic what happened?"

That question was, on the surface of things, a dumb one – the remnants of the tea tray and the shattered mugs that had adorned it answered more succinctly than any verbal explanation ever could have, though the bat somehow noticed that the teapot was still in one piece and the biscuit tin just needed its spring lid bent back into the right shape and it'd be as good as new; _why is that, why does your brain pick up the most inane details at a time like this?_ Thrusting the mental musing to the back of her mind for a minute, Rouge tuned back into reality in time to listen to the blue hedgehog's answer, though for some reason Sonic seemed to be giving her at best half of his attention – the rest of it was focussed solely on Knuckles himself.

"I, I don't know", the world-renowned speed-master breathed, shaking his head, "he'd just run the water, I was reaching for a tea-towel and next thing I know, crash – he just dropped it, the whole thing". Shaking her head, Rouge pushed up towards where her husband stood, still facing away from her,

"Knucks, what happened babe, what…?" At his expression she, as Sonic had before her, lapsed into silence, for it answered all her questions without giving, or even needing to give, any explanation as to how it answered them.

XXX

Only once before could she recall Knuckles looking as he did now; it had been in the few seconds just before their transitions from partners to fiancés. Once more the echidnas' face seemed to have collapsed in on itself, shrinking like a punctured balloon as the blood rushed away from it, at the same time his eyes had grown huge, bulging as through the shock in his brain was to push its way out through the nearest and most convenient exit. Every single hair on her husband's finely-toned body was erect and pushed outwards – if the situation hadn't been so serious Rouge was under no illusion that either she or the hedgehog by her side would have been the first to point out snide similarities between Knuckles and Tails as he as now in the middle of his seasonal moult. The guardians' chest didn't even seem to be rising, so shallow were his breaths as his normally-deadly fists hung limp and useless by his sides, their strength and sureness lost, the mangled remnants of the cups and saucers at his feet forming a jagged, accusing mute testament to this fact. Rouge said nothing, what could she say where her courage had fled from her and she was still internally scrabbling around in the back of her mind looking for the deep, dark hole her normal wit and charm had dived for cover in; all she could do instead was glance past Knuckles immobile form and shake her head sharply, a warning to those who had followed in her wake – there was no need for them to see this tableau of unnatural stillness, not until she could pull herself together and do something productive about…

"Knuckles?" The voice in her ear almost made her hit the roof in shock – obviously due to his longer exposure time Sonic had finally overcome his inertia to his friends' unusual behaviour, even going so far as to reach down and tentatively touch Knuckles' closest hand when his voice didn't seem to get through to the unresponsive echidna, "Knuckles, come on man, if this is a joke it isn't funny – you've got everyone petrified".

"Mum".

The whisper that issued from his lips was so faint Rouge herself barely heard it, and it was immediately obvious that Sonic hadn't; he would have given the echidna a rougher shake had Rouge not stopped him with a lightning-quick hand. Jade eyes swung around to glare at her accusingly, perhaps suspecting her involvement in a well-acted by unfunny practical prank, but such accusations died in the blue hedgehogs' mind when Knuckles spoke again, weaving from side to side as if trying to see something through his unfocused eyes,

"Mum", his rocking became stronger, some sense finally starting to seep back into place in his brain as he looked up and perhaps for the first time registered the two Mobians in front of him; in the next instant Sonic and Rouge found themselves unceremoniously dismissed as they weren't who he was looking for. All he saw when he looked around was a confused blur of colours clashing with one-another, nothing making sense to his now-one-track mind until, a distant lighthouse on a moonless night, the one he needed to see now because it was all that mattered to him came into his sight – his gaze fixed upon that point and never wavered as he started walking. The colourful sea parted before him, he felt pressure at times and it slowed but didn't stop him; in the small part of his subconscious that wasn't lost in the dream-like haze his sudden revelation had bestowed upon him Knuckles found himself wondering if anything actually could stop him in this mood, until, at last, Lara was right in front of him – to the other observers it was obvious the echidna lady was apprehensive at the change that had come over her son but Knuckles was oblivious to the signs of body language; they only sense of sight he had left was currently filled by his mother and his future would be decided by her next words.

"Mum", Lara flinched again but stood up as tall as she was able to, looking her son in the eye, "I, I just need, I need you, to trust me"; _what?_; though not totally unexpected that comment still made her blink for a minute, almost making her miss the last part of Knuckles' statement, "this, this is important, I swear I'll come back as soon as I'm done. Please", her former training and half a lifetime of dealing with the aftermath of some of the nastiest accidents Echidnopolis had to offer its population had steeled Lara enough to kill her earlier surprise – therefore when Knuckles lanced forwards and softly but firmly gripped one of her hands she barely quivered, merely looked up and met his eyes steadily, trying to see though the haze of surprise he was now finally starting to break through from the inside. Eyes she could see where hard and determined enough to shatter any barriers in front of them, but at the same time conveyed such desperate need that she had no choice but to hear their plea,

"This, this'll mean a lot, to all of us; I…I won't do anything unless you say yes – as soon as I know, for sure, I'll tell you everything but, but right now you need, I need you to trust me". Seemingly exhausted the guardian released his grip at that point, not even able to hold his head up and meet his mother's gaze; instead it was Knuckles turn to flinch as a hand found its way to his shoulder and a different voice, one that was older and full of more mature sense, found its way to his ear,

"Knuckles, you are my son", anyone else around had melted into the background just as they had for Knuckles seconds earlier; all that mattered to her now was the massive guardian that had once been a tiny baby she had cradled in both her hands and her belly, "whatever it is you've got to do, I, er, I guess you've got to get it done; you are the guardia…"

It was a sentence she never finished, though overall that may have been for the best; even the words left her lips her son was moving away from her, past her; he knew now what he'd needed to know and that was all that could concern him at the minute - the words he called out over his shoulder were little more than a common courtesy to everyone his inspirational burst had sent him reeling from,

"I'll see, all you later –I'm sorry but, but this is something, I have to do this". Fortunately, perhaps mercifully almost, any fledgling questions that may have taken their first few tentative fluttering towards him were lost as they impacted on the door that slammed shut in his wake. Taking no more than a split-second to orientate himself, the echidna exploded into action, tearing down the pavement as his sudden energy flooded out from his brain to his body, sweeping him along in a tide of euphoric effort that he knew it would be pointless to resist; all he could do was run out the storm and hope he had enough time left to shape the brilliant gem of his new solution into a workable plan before he arrived at the destination his feet were sweeping him towards.

In the end it was a near-run thing; it was when he was at the head of the appropriate street when his body finally collapsed in on itself again and he doubled over, breath wheezing for his lungs as the excitement finally burned out of his system. Place a hand on the fence next to him to steady himself, Knuckles slowly inhaled, exhaled and closed his eyes, turning things over in his mind as he stepped towards his goal again. _Okay, I think that's about as good as I can get it_; opening his eyes again the guardian still found himself having to swallow a sudden knot of worry that had leapt up into his throat – a phenomenal idea in theory and putting it into practice were two different things and he knew that better than most Mobians, but even so he couldn't back away from this now; _just keep your face straight, your fingers crossed and hope like hell this goes right!_

XXX

"What", so deep was Wynmachers' shock that he didn't at first realise it was his voice breaking the silence, "what _that _all about?"

With everyone watching over their shoulders at the path Knuckles had blazed down the hallway no-one seemed inclined to answer the chef; even Lara, who'd actually spoken to her son before his dramatic departure, seemed unable to do any more than blink and stare. However no silence, least of all one as unpleasant and prickly as the one that had smothered the hallway of the small echidnean home, could last forever; with a crinkle of shattered china being genteelly swept into a pile, Cream managed to answer,

"I don't know", in all truth she was trying to wrap her own mind around the bizarre events that had just occurred, the simple activity of tidying up a mindless activity to keep her from thinking too deeply, helping her to calm down, "he just, he didn't hurt me, he just pushed past".

"Just as well or he'd have run you over", Sonic commented without thinking; already well-acquainted with the guardians' freakish strength, the hedgehog had seen Knuckles had just moved past the Mobians in his way, not even a love-tap by his bone-crushing standards, "but what was that – it wasn't about…?"

"No", Rouge shook her head and crushed that germ of suspicion before it could multiply, "I'd have known". That made Lara look over; _once or twice, Locke sometimes disappeared – was this like those times?_;

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah", the bat brought up her right wrist and, as she saw the watch-like application strapped there securely Lara felt her tension drain away; she didn't even need to hear the rest of her daughter-in-laws' explanation, "there's always someone there so I'd have heard about it too, and believe me if it was he wouldn't have been going solo".

"Good", looking more relieved than she could remember feeling for a while Lara smiled at the bat; _sometime I doubt if you were the right one for him, and you always find a way to make a fool out of me for thinking it_; "so what…?"

"It doesn't matter".

"Lara, in fact everyone, listen in", unknowingly following almost the exact same footprints Knuckles had trodden into the carpet, Sonic approached the pregnant echidna with a small smile on his face, supreme confidence in his manner as he gently laid a hand on her upper arm, "out of all of us I've known your son the longest and I think I can count on one hand the number of times I've seen him look like that; it was when we or he had a problem and, take it from me", he rubbed the back of his head self-consciously, his fingers almost finding without meaning to a tiny scar, shaped like a jagged cross, nestled at the base of his quills. It was a wound he had told no-one of, least of all the one who had dealt it him; during their final fight in the shrine of Hidden Palace itself Knuckles had finally proven what a deadly adversary he could be if crossed,

"Problems like that never last long – did he ever tell you about how me and him first hooked up?"

"Umm", glancing over his shoulder at her husband only to see him shrug, Lara was forced to rely on her own memory, made faulty by both time and the hormones currently washing through her system as her body prepared itself for the trauma of labour, "I think he has, a bit". Sonic smiled and stepped slowly towards the lounge, Lara keeping step with him without thinking about it, drawn in by his words,

"Ah, perfect; well now you can hear it straight from the hedgehog's mouth as it were; Tails, you were there too, so if I get it wrong please step in and correct me, unless its' embarrassing".

"Like that bit where you tried snowboarding down that mountain and didn't notice the…"

"Thank you foxboy…" The voices receded into the lounge, leaving only two Mobians back in the kitchen, one still cleaning up diligently with the other standing still for a moment before appearing to give herself a mental kick-start and give her sister a helping hand.

_How do you do it Sonic?_; Amy knew she had the training, and the potential she was certain of it, to go far in her profession, but at the same time there was the maddening revelation that her boyfriend had something she couldn't learn from a book. She wasn't sure if it was confidence, charisma or just plain dumb luck, but whatever it was it had just let him step into a potential lions' den of a situation Knuckles had dropped them all in and defuse it as easily as she might have brushed her hair – it was a feat she couldn't have done, or, she corrected herself as Cream thanked her for holding the bin open, couldn't have done with such panache and swagger as the blue hedgehog had managed. _Argh, even when he's not trying he can show me up sometimes_; all at once the undergraduate wanted to kiss her boyfriend for being who he was and nothing else and kill him for the same reason – the two ambivalent feelings clashed and collided inside her before by mutual consent, a cease-fire was declared and the two forced retreated behind their respective picket-lines, leaving her in control of no-man's land; _damn it Sonic, you're so bloody annoying and so damn…nice with it, I can't help but love you!_

As she finally closed the cupboard door and sealed the bin away again, the hedgehog followed Cream back into the lounge with a shake of her head and a sigh under her breath; it was the same quandary she found herself continually wrestling with, though admittedly flashpoint such as the previous couple of seconds had become rarer over the past few months. She wanted to change some aspects of Sonic but at the same time was aware he came as a package deal – it was literally all-or-nothing as far as he was concerned and, strain and struggle as she might, Amy knew that no matter how embarrassing and glaringly obvious his flaws could be at time, in the end they were part of the entire Mobian that had sprinted through her world one day and run off with her heart; _and now I've finally caught up with him_; taking her seat again, she glanced at Sonic from the corner of her eye and fought simultaneously to stop herself smirking soppily and slapping the leg nearest her; _he's still not giving it back._

XXX

_If this isn't an insanely handsome runner from the C.A._ _I'm slamming this door_; though not usually a grouchy individual Mighty was in an irritable mood today – admittedly the pressure that had been all but making the ceiling bow in had been released to a greater or lesser extent over the past few days, but still the irony was enough to make her grind her teeth. It was the first time in a month she'd managed to scrape together the necessary inspiration and inclination to put pen to paper and finally scribe a letter to her boyfriend on the lands below – in truth she did feel more than a little guilty as she remembered just how long it had been since she'd last written a response to his numerous letters over this difficult time, but until earlier this morning she'd just not been able to face either the writing or the inevitable corrections that were bound to result when Vector went through her first draft with a big red pen. However, right as she'd finally managed to scribble down something approaching a passable first paragraph and was chewing slowly into the second this loud, impatient hammering had come echoing through the hallway. Sighing irritably and with trail of thought thoroughly derailed, Mighty merely nodded towards the lounge as the paper hovering in front of one of the chairs; though Vector could have gotten the door it wouldn't really be fair on him as his cold blood, being forced to pump through his veins to get him to move quickly at short notice, may have resulted in painful cramp or pins-and-needles. _Nah, keep your seat, let me do all the work_; though she meant to spice her thought with sarcasm she just wasn't able to, instead settling for another grumpy snort and pulling the door open, mouth ready and brain semi-engaged to give either a greeting or a short, sharp reply, depending on her mood,

"Where is she?"

Events move so fast that Mighty didn't realise someone had pushed past until her shell rebounded off the wall by the side of the door, the handle itself crushing her hand slightly between itself and the brickwork as in her shock she hadn't been able to relinquish her grip on it. She barely felt the pain and that pain she did feel was discounted, disregarded as unimportant; all her attention an outright, open-mouthed shock was directed at the back of the Mobian who'd just shoved past her and was now glaring around almost murderously as though the hallway itself had muttered a dire insult to both himself and his family.

"Umm", only just catching up with what was going on around her Mighty latched onto only one word her employer had spoken, "Knuckles I'm right here". The echidna broke off his death-glare just long enough to glance over his shoulder and scan her up and down,

"Not you; Esp!" His thunderous shout echoed throughout the house, though before Mighty could even think to question his motives he shot a question, no, a demand, her way, "apart from you who's here?"

"Err", unable to even think coherently the armadillo was only able to answer rather than guess the reasons he had for asking, "there's just us three, Vec's in, er, think he's in the lounge..."

"Ah, there you are", once more Knuckles cut her off, his eyes fixed firmly on the staircase again, the Mobian caught in his gaze paralysed with one foot down the staircase, "right, Vec where are you?" As if by magic, the echidna's raised voice brought the appearance of the impromptu head of the Chaotix, his bleary eyes struggling to focus on the irate form of his employer as his chilled mind belaboured itself with trying to catch up with the events so far. Even as he managed to get a toe-hold on what was going on, however, he found himself left in the dirt again as Knuckles made his next decree,

"Okay, you and you", Mighty and Vector nodded, one a little more belatedly than the other as Knuckles pointed towards the basement stairs, "get to the shrine and wait there with Charm; Esp and I are going to have a private chat – get in the lounge".

With such curt and direct instructions everything like clockwork; in less than a minute there were a pair of distinctive crackling noises from the bottom of the house followed by the slam of the lounge door; almost before the wooden panel was forced back into place, however, Esprana found herself facing down an incensed guardian, staring down the barrel of his extended finger with his grated question rattling in her ears and through her mind,

"How did you hurt your hands, and don't lie to me", the echidna let his arm drop and stared at her, gaze hard enough to make even Metal Sonic think about backing down, "I'll know if you are".

Even if the chameleon had wanted to answer his direct demand there was no way she'd have been able to; a solid ball of ice-cold dread mixed with freezing fear that somehow, impossibly, someone outside what she considered her immediately family was sniffing around the secret she feared, hated and simultaneously wanted to be rid of above all others had lodged in her throat immovably – she couldn't even breathe, so serious was the abrupt fear Knuckles had struck into her. For his part the echidna said nothing, his eyes neither accusing nor defending, merely witnessing the trial in front of him as Esprana started to gently shake, the pent-up emotion beginning to reverberate throughout her frame and made her shiver with the enormity of it. Before her stood a choice, Knuckles had left her with only two options; she could lie, though Knuckles had mentioned her would be able to tell if she took that course, or she could finally rip through the veil of lies she had built around herself and let the truth, however ugly and unpalatable, fly free and into the open. It should have been a simple choice but even so the roadblock shoved down her throat had left her unable, never mind unwilling, to make the call; even as she began to sift through reason, argument and counter-argument however, Knuckles made his presence felt again, another question that slit straight through to the heart of the matter,

"Did you do it yourself?"

That she could not deny; however even then she could not bring herself to speak, instead merely nodding her head, just once; she couldn't even look at the other Mobian but she heard his gentle sigh; bracing herself for the worst, the chameleon gathered the few scraps of courage she had left and glanced upwards towards where the guardian stood, deciding her fate.

XXX

_Okay, going well so far_; actually in truth he'd got this far on pluck, luck and the very vaguest hint of a plan he'd cobbled together on the remnants of the walk to the Chaotix's place, but there was no need for the chameleon in front of him to know that; _just play the rest of it the same way and this should finally break the ice of this whole thing at last_. So far he'd had her admit to her harm of herself and that was, in his eyes, one of the most vital steps she had to take; now all he had to do was try to walk her through the rest of it.

"So", he said at last, trying to stop his tongue drying out, "I thought as much; right", he looked up at her again, "when did you start, and why?"

"I, I...", for a minute Knuckles thought she'd managed to come up with a correct reason for the smoke and mirrors but, just as he thought this, a spark of the old, calculating martial artist Mobian Espio was resurfaced and her auburn eyes widened as she regarded him agog, "...wait, how did you know about...about my, injuries?"

Luckily this was one of the questions Knuckles had guessed was coming and, forewarned being forearmed, the echidna had done a little scheming to drag himself out of this hole; _cheers for letting me know what was coming Thunderhawk – no harm in hurrying the process on by a few years I guess_;

"I've always known", he plastered the most believable look of perplexion he could muster onto his face, "part of the bloodline awakening according to the other guardians; I can tell things about a person when they enter the shrine – I can't tell exactly who they are but I get the general gist of their height, weight, age and", he looked at her hard, "any injuries they might have; I started realising you were coming into work in less-than-perfect health. I didn't think anything of it at first, I mean I hammer my hands every hour the spirits send and don't think anything of it, but it wasn't until now, just after I've been speaking with Amy, that I realised it was always your hands, never anywhere else, and going on what else she was saying about her course and studies, that I finally figured out what was going on. But you know what eludes me, what truly baffled me completely?" Esprana shook her head, trying her hardest not to let her eyes water with tears yet; some innate sixth-sense was telling her loud and clear that there was more to come from this,

"What I don't know is why Espio; why would you, the strongest woman I know, resort to that? Care to tell me, before I end up making another mistake on top of the first one I nearly made?"

In all truth it wasn't as bad as she'd feared, after all she'd done this once before; she knew she didn't have a real, concrete reason that could be properly explained to anyone who wasn't her, but even as her mouth fell open to try and explain this bizarre concept to arguably the Mobian least likely to comprehend it, one of the words in his previous questions suddenly burst into her brain like a tank shell exploding and her mouth truly fell open and for the first time in the somewhat one-sided conversation, something below her neckline moved as a single, shaking hand came trembling up to point at the echidna, voice gasping as she tried desperately to explain this latest bombshell,

"You", her hand shook again, ever more violently as at last her voice found some composure and control, "how did you know my, umm, my gender, Knuckles? Not using that teleporter to peek inappropriately I hope?" She could only hope the guardian heard the false humour in her voice because to her this was absolutely no laughing matter; to her mixed consternation and confusion, however, he merely looked at her quizzically with an eyebrow raised, his answer coming a minute later,

"I told you, I know a few things whenever you enter my domain and that was one of the first things I picked up on; I just didn't think it was a big deal, though I have to say I'm curious as to why you kept it under wraps. Still, that's not the main issue as far as I'm concerned"; _though it counts for a lot when it comes to your team mates_; Knuckles kept that thought private as he maintained his facade of pure business rather than friend, "what does matter is you hurting yourself – before you say anything", he held up a hand to forestall her protests, wanted to try and wrap this up quickly – as he saw it, the less he said the less time Espio had to catch him in a lie, "I know it didn't affect your work; what it has affected is one of my decisions Esp, a decision regarding my family", there was heavy emphasis on the last words and the chameleon cringed; as well as anyone she knew how close to his heart the guardian kept his family matters, and how swift he was to defend them should the need arise,

"What", unable to stop the axe falling, all she could do was soften the blow as best she could, "what happened Knuckles; believe me I know what I've done wrong, and the others do as well and I've stopped", she made that point perfectly clear; if the guardian was going to know of her shame she was going to make damned sure he was going to know of her triumph as well, "so how have I affected them?"

It was a question she needed him to answer because, in the short pause she had to think, she found herself wracking her brains to try and figure out any circumstances where her behaviour would have impacted on her friends' family – she hadn't even seen them for months. Therefore when Knuckles gave his answer, the chameleon found herself for the third time in as many minutes, open-mouthed and blank-visaged,

"As it is you haven't yet", he admitted heavily before both his spurs were levelled at the reptile along with his lilac gaze, "I was going to suggest you to be one of my little brothers' remembrancers Espio, but seeing as you can't seem to look after yourself I'm beginning to doubt that idea very seriously".

XXX

Tension crackled between the two of them, the air oppressive, making it all but impossible to breathe in the homely, shared room of the Chaotix home; it was a silent power-struggle that Knuckles was desperate to win – the less he had to say and the more he left to Espio's own imagination, the more likely she was to voluntarily change for the better as it would seem to be her idea to do so. _Just in time_; it seemed his nerve was holding, the chameleon was almost outright gawping as he continued to point; _come on, spit it out, my arm's getting tired_;

"Knuckles", the echidna drew in a breath, already planning to point out that she hadn't yet lost the honour he was offering pending good behaviour, "what's a remember, rem...remember-thing?"

"A remembrancer?" Knuckles repeated dumbly, wondering for a second what the problem was before it twigged; _oh of course, she wouldn't know_; "similar to a godfather, the same thing Tails will be – basically it's a responsibility to Kneecaps in case anything happens to me and the others, and it's a responsibility I don't think you're to any more, in fact", he pointed again, this time dismissively, towards her hands, "after hearing about this, I really don't think..."

"Stop", Espios' raised voice cut him off, the chameleon looking down but not defeated, not yet at least, "I, I can't say I've been perfect, God knows I haven't been, but I'm working to work it out; there's been a few...issues recently that I don't want to go into Knuckles, and it's hurt me and the others, probably them more than me if I'm honest. You're not the first who's had words with me and I know I have to change", she stopped, nausea and raw, painful emotion searing her throat closed for a moment before she choked it down and was able to speak again, "I'm working on it Knuckles, please believe me when I say that; it's not easy going for any of us and it's slow, but it's the best I can do".

It took a lot more that Knuckles would have liked to admit not to drop his arms complete, let all his defences down, embrace the other Mobian completely and whisper that it would all be okay; he could see now more clearly than he ever have before that she had changed, probably a lot more than she actually realised she had. He'd never intended to deny her the prize he'd dangled in front of her but now he simply couldn't do it; to snatch this chance away from her would be to throw a stick of dynamite under the bedrock of self-confidence she was slowly starting to build up underneath her. Knuckles wasn't one to set much stock by what others might call fate or karma, but just this time he got the slight inkling that something else was just taking a hand in the proceedings and helping to guide it gently his way; _still_; he drew in a breath, making sure it looked like he was wrestling with his conscience as he came to his decision; _afraid I can't let you know that Esp, well, not yet at any rate_;

"That", he began heavily, letting his arm drop and adopting an expression of reluctant weariness, "was what I was hoping for, it's a start at least; I haven't told mum or any of the others about this yet, your injuries I mean", he smoothed over his slip of the tongue just as the chameleon opened her mouth to reply that maybe Lara may have wanted to have been clued in to the fact that one of her older sons' employers was going to inherit a pretty serious title in no more than a months' time, "so, this is what's going to happen; I'm not going to take the offer away from you Esp, but", he held up a forestalling, forbidding hand, "as of this minute you are on probation. It'll be six or so months before Kneecaps has his, christening if you like, though it's a bit more in-depth than that and you and the foxboy get sworn in – if you can stop this, this..." the right word wouldn't come to him so he settled for a firm directed glance, Esprana's nod enough to let him know she understood, "...completely by then, you're in. Anything else, that's it, forget it; my father hurt my family enough and the Master knows I'm not Locke, I will not put any of them at risk, least of all my brother, not even from my friends. You'll be inspected whenever the hell I please, Rouge or Mighty will do that", he added in appeasement to the hardening of the chameleon's eyes; knowing what he actually knew, what Esprana was oblivious to the fact he knew, he reckoned she wouldn't take kindly to any male Mobian looking at her body closely, let alone touching her, "and if there's anything there amiss you'd better have an impeccable explanation, do you understand me?"

"Knuckles", it was a bit much for her to take in at once, "I..."

"I said", patience was not one of the echidna's strong points at the minute; he'd done what he came here to do and now he had to get away with as clean a break as possible, "do you understand me? Or do you not want this at all – I'm sure Wyn and mum could find another remembrancer if they needed to?"

"No, no", her instinctive answer was enough to take quite a weight of the echidna's mind; the chameleon's actual refusal had been one of the weakest links in the plan that he had no control over, "I do, I'm..." actually she was a lot of things at the minute but, as even she couldn't begin to rationally classify them she thought it best if Knuckles didn't know; _but there's one thing he should get right now – Christ he knows enough now, I might as well get it all over with_; "...but there's something you ought to know", the guardian paused where he'd been heading towards the door and glanced over his shoulder, "when you're there briefing up the priest, or whoever it is that does the christening-thing with Kneecaps, tell them it's Esprana who's remembering him – Espio doesn't exist".

That got the reaction she'd expected; Knuckles turned fully around with his eyebrows almost in his hair, staring at her almost open-mouthed for a minute before Esprana decided to put him out of his misery,

"Espio's a false name, he doesn't exist; the name's Esprana".

"Oh", that was about all Knuckles could say at first before he managed to spark some life back into his inspirational centre, "umm, right, okay; I don't know what the paperwork's like for this but I'll, ah, I'll see to it nearer the time. Until then, I'm off – got things to do, least of all start cooking; got guests tonight", he explained as the chameleon cocked her head questioningly,

"Oh right", her answer was unconvincing, it seemed that subconsciously at least, she wanted him to leave as much as he was desperate to go and Knuckles saw no reason to deny her unspoken desires; he simply turned around and walked back towards the door, heading for the teleporter and feeling the burden of deception and pent-up nervousness slough off him with every step, letting him breathe more easily until, as he stepped into the teleporter itself, he took the first full, sweet breath he'd had since he had left his mothers' on a mad mercy dash to the home of his employees, and never had the air tasted as sweet as it did at that moment.

XXX

The second the crackled filled the air it seemed to convert all the tension in the air into motion; as one the Chaotix came to their feet and sprinted towards the exit from the shrine; luckily their differing speeds prevented a mass pile-up at the entrance to the narrow tunnel, but even so they found themselves having to retreat quickly in fairly short order; regardless of how desperate they were for news and explanations, no-one of them wanted to be on the receiving end of a stern-looking guardian,

"Right get back there and settle down", the echidna roared, sending the trio scuttling backwards as he purposely strode towards the ancestral seat of his family's twin source of power and responsibility; as he emerged, however, the eager Chaotix found themselves frustrated for news – instead of answering them, the guardian simply stood to the side, pointing them back towards the teleport pad and seeming to deflate slightly as though whatever had transpired had cost him more effort than they had first estimated,

"It'd be best if you heard it from her; get back home, you as well Charm, I need some time to think".

None of them needed further prompting; in less than a minute Knuckles stood alone in the shrine again; _well, then_; he drew in a breath and let it out slowly, trying to ease the tension from his body once more now that his task was done; _that's that over with – now then, it's excuses time_. Smiling slightly at his own gallows' humour Knuckles walked over to the steps before the emerald itself and sat down, the soft radiance of the gem at his back washing over him and allowing him to think clearly, try to put his thoughts in order as he tried to come up with an explanation that would appear both logical and sensible to both friends and family, least of all his mother, to cover for both his sudden departure from her house when he was supposed to be entertaining guests, and the fact that Kneecaps may now have one more remembrancer that she'd planned for in the future.

He was making little headway on the problem but, as he heard the faint sparkle of teleportation going off again and looked up just in time to stand up and receive Charmy as the bee flew directly into him, tears already coursing from his eyes and broken words of equal parts thanks and praise were sobbed from his lips, Knuckles realised as he embraced his friend that, though his decision might have been difficult to explain, there was no doubt it was the right one to make overall.

XXX

Esprana said and did nothing; she didn't trust herself to do anything other than stand perfectly still and watch the door Knuckles had departed through; she wasn't sure why she was doing this, after all she'd heard him leave through the teleporter so he was hardly going to jump back in yelling 'surprise', but for some reason she couldn't do anything more than continue to stand and watch. It was a state that could have continued almost indefinitely, but was broken quite abruptly when she felt rather than heard another rumble of feet coming from behind they very portal of wood she was staring it and a second later it sprang open to reveal Vector looking at her askance, Mighty just behind him and Charmy hovering at his shoulder. Before she could speak the crocodile was in front of her; he stopped just short of a full embrace but still, the way both his hands fell on her shoulders sent twin bolts of lightning wracking through her body, shivering all the way through her frame even as the head of the Chaotix spoke,

"Esp, wha' 'appened? Yer're no' 'urt right?" _If you are I'll kill him_; that wasn't a boast or a joke, it was a fact – employer or not if Knuckles had raised his hand against her Rouge would be a widow before night fell. Luckily though, for both his criminal records and Knuckles' future health, the chameleon seemed to snap out of her daze and shook her head, though judging by the look on her face she was still not quite on the same page as everyone else,

"Uh, no, no, nothing, nothing like that", she brought a hand of her head and shook herself, almost as though trying to convince herself that the last few minutes had actually happened, "I suppose you'd best all know; it'll be easier that way. Sit down", she waved them towards the seats and took one herself; after a minute the others complied, "here's what happened after you left..."

She gave a short, concise summary, finishing up with what she thought would have to happen now and making sure the others were aware of the state of things as they were now; Knuckles knew which meant Rouge certainly did, though beyond that nothing could be taken for certain. Having said her piece, the chameleon sat back and waited to hear what the others had to say; the response, or at least the first response, was not what she expected however,

"Well, I'd better get back", Charmy had stood up with his back to them all, voice noticeably higher than normal and quavering, "shrine, you know, can't let it..." He couldn't finish, instead bolting for the door and hurling himself towards the teleporter trying desperately to hold his tears in; as he departed, Mighty stepped in to fill the silence,

"So then", she sat back in her seat a little, fixing her reptilian counterpart with a firm but not quite piercing eye, "you said yes I assume?" Esprana nodded,

"I did, but these inspections will be annoying".

"Why? Y'not gunna do anythin' stupid".

"I know but..."

"No buts", Mighty broke in, backing up Vectors' earlier words, "a pain yes, but look at it from Knuckles' point of view – wouldn't you want the best for your baby brother".

"I know, ah I'm just a bit mixed up at the minute", Esprana admitted, a little ruefully as she faced her two older friends again, "I did and didn't want this to happen; I knew someone else was bound to find out but for some reason couldn't do it myself", she sighed, looking at the floor as she mulled things over in her mind, "I don't know what'll happen next, but I'm going to be living on eggshells for the next six months at least – I'm going to need help".

"Esp", as Mighty's voice the chameleon looked up to see the armadillo brandishing one of the sofa cushions at her, "don't make me use this again; remember what we all said that night – we are here for you. We will help you out through this, this especially as it's not just you who needs to get this right; this is our meal-ticket you're talking about".

"She's right", Vector chipped in with his two-crests' worth, "won' look good if y'make 'ash of it in front o'the boss an' 'is family will it? It's in our bes' in'rests t'get it right".

Esprana blinked at that; it was an angle she hadn't considered at all, and a correct assumption at that; weighing it up in her mind and, seeing the expressions of tolerance and amusement on her friends faces at the time the chameleon couldn't help but smile in kind and clap her hands together, breaking the mood of danger that had spread through the room like a bullet through a glass winder,

"So it would appear; so, any ideas where we start?"

XXX

"Hey"; _oh sweet irony_; Shadow smiled dreamily to himself as the line played over in his head once more; _how have I missed thy sweet caress_; "if it safe for me in there or do I need a hazmet suit?"

It wasn't quite the line Julie had used on him but, judging by the reaction he could hear with his ear pressed to the bedroom door, it was close enough; those were some truly impressive swearwords,

"...bloody sod; move it in here", tempted though he was to delay he doubted it would be good for his health if he did so; instead he simply opened the door and stepped inside, wrinkling his nose at the slightly sickly scent of illness that pervaded the entire room, "and it's a hasmat suit you smarmy git; short for hazardous material".

"Pretty sure you used hasmet", Shadow riposted, taking in where his flatmate was just sliding herself back into bed having sorted something out on the dresser, the short journey seemingly exhausting for one in her state as the bags under her eyes and unkempt fur duly attested to; for her part the ex-Legionnaire just looked up at him scathingly until she noticed the cup in his hand and her expression softened accordingly,

"I had a lousy teacher in detox one-oh-one?"

"You passed it on to me", Shadow pointed out before smiling, approaching the bed and sitting down next to where the echidna lay, "how have you been?" Julie smiled wanly,

"Worst diet I've ever been on", she commented, making her housemate chortle as he set the cup down within easy reach at the side of the bed nearest her, "shame it's the most effective as well".

"Not from where I'm standing it isn't", Shadow admonished gently, slipping off one of his gloved and laying the back of his hand to the echidna's brow, "but at least you're a little cooler than you were yesterday". Julie sniggered slightly, though the action was broken by a cough that made her shake her head a little,

"Hot in bed, what more can I say?" Shadow made a distasteful face as he removed his hand, "Though make sure you wash that before you do anything else with it".

"Too right", the hedgehog nodded before smirking; _uh oh, I know that look_; "I know where that forehead's been for the past couple of days and it's not a pretty place to be".

"The second I get out of here", Julie growled threateningly; Shadow however, merely smirked and moved his hand forwards again, brushing some of her dreadlocks aside to tickle just below her left ear and the side of her neck, making her squirm,

"You'll what Julie?" He queried as the echidna writhed slightly under the irritating touch, "Come on, I'm all ears". He withdrew, making sure to give one last tug one her earlobe as he took pity on her; luckily Julie, realising that she wasn't quite a match for him until she was back on top form, settled for a semi-lethal glower rather than a verbal retort until the former ultimate life-form asked another question,

"Seriously though, how have you been?"

Seeing in her vermillion eyes he was serious this time Julie decided playtime was over; with a sigh she rolled onto her side to see him slightly better and shrugged,

"Not too bad, should be back to work if not the day after tomorrow, the day after that – sitting around here's driving me crazy".

"Just don't rush yourself", Shadow told her, though true to form there was a slight barb in his last words, "I can put up with your free-loading for a couple more days at least, though I'll be expecting payment afterwards", as her glare hardened he merely smiled into her chameleonic eyes and cupped a hand to his ear, "can you hear the dishes singing from here?"

"If you've left them all for me you'll be the only one singing Shady, and when I get through with you you'll be a high soprano", she promised viciously, though she already knew from her few excursions away from the bedroom that he had been tidying up; _and I owe him one for it, not that he needs to know_; "just be grateful I can eat under my own power now".

"Why, it's fun trying to watch someone try to drink soup through a funnel", the hedgehog riposted smirking, dodging her feeble slap effortlessly as he stood up, reaching down to retaliate by lightly flicking the tip of her nose as he made to depart, "I spoke to the others earlier; they both said get well soon and don't worry about it". At those words Julie felt her earlier irritation drain away; when she looked up at the former ultimate life-form again there was regret in her expression – better than anyone she knew how much he'd been looking forwards to this visit,

"I'm sorry Shadow..."

"Don't be", he headed her off gently, patting her thigh gently through the blanket, "just for a change this wasn't your fault, and don't think I haven't planned how you're going to pay for this later". _Huh – danger senses, tingling_; those words, to say nothing of the dark Mobians' gleeful expression, made the hairs on the back of the ex-Legionnaires' neck stand up; it took a real effort of will not to draw the blanket up to her chin as she beheld the dire predictions in his face,

"Shadow, you wouldn't...what are you planning?!" His expression betrayed nothing, instead he merely headed for the door and threw a casual line over his shoulder,

"Wouldn't you like to know?"

"Get back here!" _Got her!_; revenge was truly the dish best served cold and right now Shadow took great pleasure in force-feeding his flatmate a fat wedge of it straight from the freezer; slapping his tail he was gone with just two words let in his wake, the gargling scream of annoyance that dogged his heels sweet music to his ears,

"Bite this!"

_He got me_; as she flumped back to the pillows Julie all but slammed her head into the blanket – how had she fallen for that one?; _he played me like a fiddle and I just danced to his tune. Ill or not there's no excuse for that_; and there wasn't, but then again she wasn't one for making many in the first place. She rather preferred thinking up ways, as she was now, on fixing her flaws in readiness for the next clash; _as mum used to say_; her frustrated snarl gave way to a determined smile; _don't get mad girl, get even!_

A/N: Right, rumours of my death have been greatly exaggerated; I'm still alive and writing, but at a much slower rate than before; since just before I published last chapter I've been holding down a full-time job, a part-time job and a part-time degree. As you can imagine, due to this my free time has been reduced to nothing and my writing time to even less – god bless Christmas for a brief few days break. I will try to carry on as best I can, just bear with me and keep reading!


	18. Chapter 18 The Joys of Living

Chapter 18 – The Joys of Living.

A/N: Right, I'm not dead (though I'm betting some of my regulars would do something about that if they knew where I lived), but work is slowing down to a crawl at the minute for the following reason. Basically I'm working in an office using a computer, studying using a computer, talking to my family using a computer so when I finally get a sniff of free-time, the last thing I want to do is sit down in front of another computer screen and re-ignite my eye-strain. Still, this chapter will start to wind this story up I hope; thanks to the following for sticking with me this long:

.Nts – Wow, I like long reviews; they bring up lots of points for me to look at! Firstly, a strong reaction but I think it's justified; as far as he can see Knuckles has found a way of tying up a lot of loose ends and everything else just shuts down around him; it's happened to me before, you have an idea and you have to follow it up, regardless of everything else. Second point, Athair; I like to think of him as a Mobian fire alarm – most of the time when he goes off it's just a pain, but occasionally something really big hits the fan and Spectre's learnt through bitter experience that it's better to be safe than sorry! Last question – where did those Western novels come from (Sheriff Rawshire was mentioned before in one of my other stories – which one was it?)

DJ Striker – Thanks for the longest fic comment, but if this is the longest you've ever read I know you haven't got the full story – you haven't read A Pair of Second Chances. Don't worry I'm continuing; not very fast, but I am continuing.

Right then, on with the fic...

XXX

_Compared to what I was readying myself for_; as he touched down outside his home and shook himself down after a brief glide, Knuckles drew in a deep breath and exhaled slowly, half-closing his lilac eyes as he felt the tension seep away from his boot soles; _that went surprisingly well_.

It had been a few hours since the guardian, hit with the mental equivalent of a meteor strike, had been sent hurtling straight through the streets of Echidnopolis to impact with brutal honesty on the shield of pain and disbelief another Mobian friend of his had tried to build around herself and sunder it utterly; he had offered Espio; _or Esprana_; the guardian consciously blinked to remind himself of the chameleons' name change before snorting, almost disbelieving as the conversation he'd had not two hours played over again in his head; _new name, new gender – boy is this ever going to take some getting used to_. Either way, regardless of the number of surprises that he had encountered at the Chaotix's abode as he spelt out his decision, he had come before her with a stark choice; either finally give up on her insular, pessimistic personality for good or risk losing something that in truth she had never truly had for sure; the chance of belonging, however indirectly, to a loving family for the first time in her life. As he'd expected she'd made the choice towards the light and he'd watched on silently, almost biting his tongue off in an effort to stop the approval showing on his face, though there were strings attached to his offer, strings that hopefully would keep her on the straight and narrow for long enough that behaving normally; _or at least, as normally as any of us are likely to ever act at any rate_; would become second-nature to her.

Only when this task was achieved and he was able to relax in solitude in the shrine once Charmy, who had been filled in on what had happened and as a result had flashed to the shrine in a heartbeat and proceeded to embrace the life from the guardian in a gratuitous display of gratitude, had been chidingly shooed back to his home, did the irritating little voice in the back of his mind suddenly decide to crank up the volume and bellow right into his ear that, brilliant though his plan of making Esprana a remembrance to his soon-to-be little brother might have been, he might have wanted to make sure this new state of affairs was clear with his mother before setting his mind at ease completely.

Even now the memory of that realisation made the skin on the back of the guardians' neck crawl; Knuckles would have sworn blind, in fact he'd even have gone so far as to wager the Master Emerald itself that never had the walk from the shrine to his mothers' small property had never seemed quite so long as it had scant hours before; certainly it had never seemed so torturous to the echidnas' guilty, penitent conscience. After all, he had just handed out one of the most important titles a friend of his family could ever to hope to be blessed with to a Mobian neither of Kneecaps' parents knew very well, and completely without their consent. Phantom expectations of both his mother and step-father black-eyed and breathing fire at his tremulous explanations had plagued every step of his penitent pilgrimage, silent screams of rage and disbelief at his outrageous actions sounding in his ears as he bent his head, gritted his teeth and ploughed on; he almost bottled it at the front door, hand quavering as he drew it back to knock but still it fell, each blow sounding like a funeral gong at it echoed throughout the house, summoning the executioners to witness his doom.

_Of course_; as always with a potential near-death experience, survival painted the scene in a rosy hue for the retelling; _it was a stupid way to think – once I had them both sat down and explained a few things it all went like clockwork_. That was a bit of an over-simplification in truth, though in essence it was correct; the most hair-raising part of the whole experience had been trying to escape his mothers' crushing grasp as Lara-Le had sprung the second his toe had crossed the front door threshold, torn halfway between crying at her son for making her worry at his running off and hitting him in anger for the same reason – what self-respecting Mobian suddenly upped sticks and left, leaving his friends, his family and worst of all his mother in the lurch? Once he'd managed to pry the pregnant echidna off of him and calm her similarly flustered husband down as well, Knuckles had managed to explain the situation to the pair of them; he'd left nothing out this time, telling them all about what had happened since Christmas and beyond as it was their son his actions would be affecting.

They'd taken the news about as well as he'd expected; though a touch reproachful that the decision had been made without their consent, both Wynmacher and Lara-Le were sensible enough to understand the situation and see why the guardian had acted in the manner he had. Both had given their blessing and, having confirmed where Sonic and Amy had gone and the hedgehog duos' plans for the next few hours, he'd quickly bidden the couple farewell and headed back out into the wilderness to catch up with his wife and help prepare for the evening, though not before Wynmacher had collared him one last time and told him in no uncertain terms that he and his wife expected a progress report on the situation as soon as possible after he received them himself. That was fair enough as far as Knuckles could make out; if nothing else, it would be something for the two of them to talk about in the wee hours of the morning when Kneecaps woke up and started raising hell.

From there it had come to this; the most potentially damaging bridge had been crossed without incident and he was quietly confident that, despite his usually brash exterior, Sonic would know or at least guess enough about him and what he considered to be his business to gloss over the whole thing; _and if he can't Amy should be on hand to keep him in line_. All that was left to sort out, as he pushed his front door in and stepped inside, pausing enough to give a smile at the frozen form of his wife, stood over the table with a bitter-root in one hand and a peeler in the other, was how Rouge was going to react to the whole thing,

"Hey". He raised a hand half-heartedly in greeting only to lower it suddenly in tandem with its twin in time to catch the leaping figure of the bat, clamping around her back as she hugged herself tight into his shoulder,

"You...", her voice was muffled slightly as she was speaking into his shoulder; _yeah, me, for better or worse – oi, that's sore_!; he swayed slightly to the side, pushing his ribcage out of range of Rouge's short sucker-punches, "...you clown! I have never been so bloody embarrassed in all my life, and that includes forgetting I could fly that time and had to rely on you to haul my tail out the fire! Where the hell have you been and what the hell possessed you to run off?" Hoping she would equate the grin on his lips with the impact of her punches Knuckles eased himself out of her hold and shrugged,

"They always say it's like mother like daughter – guess that counts for daughters-in-law as well". Unfortunately Rouge didn't seem to see the joke, brandishing her peeler with a warlike expression as her quest for answers would not be dissuaded,

"Don't try to box clever with me Knuckles; what the hell were you up to earlier and before you say anything I know it wasn't to do with the M.E., someone would have let both of us know". Holding up his hands placatingly, the guardian brought himself a little breathing space to prepare his answer,

"Okay, okay, keep your shirt on, well...", one look at her expression killed his idea of trying to use humour to diffuse the tension, "you're right Rouge, nothing to do with the emerald, but something to do with the Chaotix", that got the reaction he was hoping for as the bats' expression changed from fierce to slightly forlorn in an eye-blink, her makeshift weapon hanging loose in her hand as the name itself seemed to depress the atmosphere in the guardians' shared home, "no joking here babe it's to do with Espio, or as you found out, Esprana".

There was a long pause at this, the word seeming to echo around the room like a scream down a dry well until, finally, Rouge managed to retrieve her tongue from where it had been lying limp in the bottom of her jaw and the put it back to its proper use again,

"She, how did you get her to admit...okay", shaking her head as though mosquitoes were buzzing around it the former government operative looked back up at the echidna with a harder, more business-like edge in her manner, steel reinforcing the softness that coated her usual manner, "start at the start Knucks, we'll finish this later on; Spiky and his better half aren't due here until at least five, probably later if they do drop in at Shadows' when he finishes work".

"Going to surprise him are they?" The echidna sniggered for a minute before moving past Rouge and settling down at the table, pulling out a chair for each of them and motioning for the bat to sit down, "Fair enough, that should give us more than enough time and I'm pretty sure even Sonic knows when to keep his mouth shut".

"Are you sure we're talking about the same hedgehog here?" Rouge smirked as she sat down, hands in her lap as the humour sloughed away to leave the atmosphere completely business, "Yeah I know what you mean; alright then, much as I might regret this let's hear it". Without further ado, Knuckles nodded and began to recite virtually the same story he'd told not an hour ago to his mother and step-father.

Rouge listened in total silence as her husband talked and for his part Knuckles told nothing more or less than the truth; he added no, or at the most very few embellishments and kept the reactions to his words as close to reality as he could remember them being. He explained everything that had happened up until he arrived back, that Lara and Wyn were aware of the situation and cautiously optimistic as to his actions and reasoning, coming to an end with the simple statement that, after letting his mother know what was going on, he'd simply come back home with an eye to explain what had gone on to her in person; _well, that's the truth – let's see what she does with...oh_. He'd been so deeply engrossed in trying to second-guess his wife's' reaction to the news he actually missed it when it occurred; somehow without him realising it the bat was in his lap, both arms snaked around her shoulders in a soft embrace, her voice in his ear almost choking as she realised what he'd done,

"Sometimes Knuckles", she managed to speak before her voice broke slightly and forced her to try again, "just sometimes you can really pull it out the bag. She'll have to change now, she just has to – even if she's got no idea what being a woman's all about the fact there's a kid involved will bring her out her shell".

"Really? I thought being a remembrancer would be..." Knuckles never finished that sentence as Rouge wrestled her way out of his embrace and twisted around to look him dead in the eye, total seriousness ingrained in every line of her face,

"There is nothing tiny or trivial about something like that Knuckles, not for a woman anyway; it's like being a godmother or something right, well that means Esprana is now responsible, in part at least, for Kneecaps", at this Knuckles nodded, though in truth it was something he hadn't really considered – taking the nod as understanding the bat ploughed on relentlessly, "don't you get it, that responsibility, the mother's instinct if you want to call it that, is one of the most important if not _the_ most important drive any woman can have. Didn't you ever wonder why most girls go ga-ga over babies; it's the mother instincts taking over – I'll bet you a crest to a carrot that the first time she sees him Esp-er", stumbling over the unusual name Rouge looked to her husband for help, nodding as he mouthed the word 'Esprana', "Esprana will be all over him like nappy-rash and Espio will be a distant memory".

"And good riddance to bad rubbish", Knuckles snorted as he set the bat back on her feet, coming to a vertical base with a groan as his practised eye swept over the amount of preparation still to be done, "still, let's get all this cleared up and go from there – oh, just out of interest what happened at home after I left?"

"Sonic", the bat stated simply, shrugging her slim shoulders as Knuckles looked over with a quirked eyebrow, "he just took over somehow, started going on about how you and him first started butting heads and it all just went from there. Credit where it's due he's a damn good storyteller, had me almost forgetting you for a minute until Amy pointed out the time; she and Cream, well, Cream mostly, are running on a tight schedule and there's a lot of shopping to do in four or so hours. You're sure he'll..."

"Yes I'm sure"; like a dog with a juicy bone, however, Rouge just couldn't let it go,

"Positive? It wouldn't be the first time you know".

"I know it wouldn't, but I also know that Sonic does have the ability to open his mouth without putting his foot in it; look", Knuckles sighed, hands on his hips as he stared down his partners' disbelieving gaze, hoping to disguise the cogs suddenly turning in his head, "if you're really that sure he'll bring my disappearance up, how about a bet for it?" Rouge sized him up for a long, long minute before slowly nodding her head; _okay then darling, let's hear this one_;

"Alright then", she nodded slowly, half a smile on her lips as she considered her options – win or lose bets with her husbands were always interesting, "if you really want to trust that reckless rodent I'm not going to stop you hoisting yourself with your own petard. What's the stakes?" Knuckles said nothing but his grin spread to truly evil proportions as he stepped closer to his wife, Rouge bending an ear as he leant in to whisper; as he stepped back afterwards he had to bite his tongue to stop himself from laughing at the shocked expression on her face, the blush on her cheeks just the icing on the cake as far as he was concerned,

"Are you serious?" The echidna nodded,

"Lethally".

"If you lose this happens to you too you know?"

"I know but I trust my friend"; _Sonic if you let me down now I will make sure you never hit top speed in your life without wincing again_; "so, you in?" It took the bat a minute to weigh up the pros and cons but in the end, her daredevil spirit just about prevailed over her self-preservation and she nodded, a cold ball of dread in her stomach as she gingerly shook the echidna's hand to seal the deal,

"Okay then, it's your funeral; remember", she smiled wickedly as her fingers flexed, "I know all your best spots Knucks, it'll be absolute hell for you when I win".

"Like you'll be any better off", the guardian riposted, scooping up a fistful of green vegetables and dunking them in a nearby bucket of cold water in preparation for a salad, "I might not know where makes you laugh the loudest yet, but it'll be fun finding out".

"Nothing below the ankles?"

"Nothing too much; it's too easy"; that took a weight off the bat's mind, though as she prepared for the rest of the night with her friends, swapping barbs and innuendo with her husband all night along with promises of the torments they'd inflict on each other once Sonic had fulfilled his end of the bet, she could never quite quell the nagging doubt in the back of her mind that just this once she'd made a deal with the devil and was going to get her fingers burnt.

And unfortunately for the bat, from the minute their guests arrived in the manner she'd come to expect from slightly more restrained Sonic ever since he'd finally got his act together and seen Amy's pursuit as a labour of genuine love rather than fan-girlish stalking to the minute they'd finally bidden their hosts goodnight, that feeling of déjà-vu just got heavier and ever-more oppressive in the back of her mind. Not even she, who had waged an all-out war with the blue hedgehog since virtually their first meeting, had anticipated how well both Sonic and, to her even greater surprise Amy as well, were able to understand what constituted acceptable conversation material and what didn't in the guardians' household; even when Knuckles had left to clear up the dishes from the first course of butter-sweet soup (a dish her husband complained long-sufferingly Sonic viewed second only to chilli-dogs in his hierarchy of favourites and would never forgive him if he left it out during every visit; even more depressingly from his point of view, Amy seemed to be showing the first signs of addiction as well) and she genteelly tried to veer the conversation towards a route that would let her wriggle out of the binds Knuckles would otherwise clamp on her, both hedgehogs seemed to second-guess her with a prescience that verged on clairvoyance.

Her discomfort aside however, the hot topic on the lands below at the minute appeared to be, apart from Amy's continuing studies reaping continued dividends and Sonic appearing to climb the ranks of the novel energy company he worked for at a slow but steady rate, that Tails was apparently becoming something of a star in his own right, and not before time as Knuckles pointed out bluntly, indicating all the behind the scenes work the fox had put in tirelessly in their earlier days crusading against the near-unstoppable Robotnik juggernaught. The engine that he'd developed and test-run on the Tornado utilising nanocombustion of scrap metal was apparently catching a fair few more eyes than the foxboy genius had considered despite the fact that at the moment it was still technically a prototype, though with the help of a mysterious new pen-pal partner, work was continuing apace,

"It's quite strange really", Amy commented, topping up her glass and reaching over to refill Rouges', brow creased in thought, "he's always been a member of that magazine he reads, grew up on it from what Sonic tells me, but since he sent in the design blueprints", she shrugged, chuckling slightly as she summoned a suitable metaphor from her imagination, "it's like someone threw a hand grenade into a wasps' nest; they've been up in arms about it with their own theories, ideas and just plain gobbledegook that flies right over my head".

"That serious eh?"

"New field of science apparently", Sonic chipped in, doing his best to stop himself looking too pleased with his little brothers' progress in life; _you sure beat me this time Tails – you might have been a bit too young to get the full deal as a hero but you're going to be a damn fine Mobian in your own right without my help_; "all sorts of rumours going everywhere; I reckon he'll be in line for a Nobel prize if this carries on and he gets it mass-produced". Knuckles swallowed a larger mouthful of soup than he'd intended at that point, choking for a minute before he could force air out over the liquid coming the other way, though his voice was noticeably more reedy than usual,

"A, awards? Tails could be in line for something like that?" Amy glanced up sharply,

"Of course", she retorted, seemingly affronted that the echidna would doubt her friends' ability, "well, him and his partner of course, whoever that actually is"; seeing the guardians swap confused looks, Sonic took over,

"One guy Tails writes to, they seemed to work together over that Physics Today magazine or whatever it's called; what happened was that when Tails got the engine published first time, someone wrote back with a bit more than the usual 'this is freaking awesome' schtick – his words, not mine – pointing out flaws, improvements, things like that. Tails seems to be taking it on board, made the modifications he suggested and a few others and republished the engine plan. Turns out the other guy's just as competitive as the foxboy; they've got a rivalry of sorts going on now – they take it in turns to publish one design a month, the other guy spends that month shooting holes in the latest effort and tweaking his own design", Sonic considered the scenario and smiled fondly before sending a pointed glance over the table, "remind you of anyone you know?" Unable to hold the blue hedgehog's gaze directly, Knuckles let his dreadlocks sway over his face and rubbed the back of his head subconsciously,

"Well, if it's any consolation it won't happen again".

"Really?" Sonic looked at the guardian for a long, long minute before abruptly breaking eye-contact and chortling, "Shame, I was getting used to having a friendly rival but then, ah then", he sighed deeply and shot Rouge a baleful glare, "you just had to go and get married didn't you – you've just not been the same since then".

"And you mean exactly what by that Spiky?"

"Whatever you want me to mean by that batgirl", he replied lackadaisically, smirking as his unusual reply wrong-footed his long-term sparring partner, "if being with Amy's taught me one thing it's that there's never a right answer, so you'll just have to answer yourself; if one way can leave you angry-slash-upset, I meant the other one. Score". _It'll take me a few to get back on level terms after that one_; seconds of her being unable to answer had allowed Sonic to deliver that coup-de-grace, Rouge wincing mentally as he held up a finger in triumph and Amy watched on with embarrassment and pride ambivalently warring on her face; _ouch!_

Oddly enough that same word was echoing in the bat's mind a few hours later as she watched a familiar spiky back disappear into the distance, a pair of feet and a head draped at about waist level as Sonic left with a very slightly tipsy Amy in his arms; as usual, the blue hedgehog had forsaken the sauce in order to avoid the potential for a high-speed accident on the journey to the hotel room they had booked in Echidnopolis. As the duo were lost to sight Rouge closed her eyes and swallowed; her danger sense had let her down this once and, as a pair of thick arms snaked around her waist and she felt warm breath on her cheek, making her shiver slightly, it was time to pay the piper,

"Well, well batgirl", she shuddered again; Knuckles was kissing the back of her neck lightly, something guaranteed to make her go weak at the knees, "what can I say; when you've got friends like mine..."

"Okay Lothario", she'd meant it as a snappy retort but the echidnas' attention to her neck combined with the fact he was basically right drained the venom from the bats' potential counter-punch, "you got me good this time, happy? I advise you to make the most of it", she forced herself to keep a straight face as Knuckles ran his fingers lightly over her stomach, refusing to give in at this early stage, "it's not going to happen very often, if ever again after tonight". She let out a silent breath as the irritation stopped, only to suck the same breath back in as a sharp shock made the world spin around her; before she could regather her bearings she was locked face-to-face with her partner in a loose hug, the expression of faux-shock on his face making her unsure of whether she should sigh or cringe,

"As if it would; it's not often you get it as badly wrong as you did this time", the words might have been conciliatory but the tone was anything but; Knuckles was all but radiating smugness at this point, "now, why don't you go inside and have a nice lie-down", the emphasis on the last two words left her in no doubt as to where she was meant to be laying, "while I go and get a few things; fair's fair as well, you did most of the prep work so I'll clear up in the morning; hope you wait up for me". With that Knuckles let go, still grinning all over his face, and departed with a cheerful wave; the last Rouge heard of him before she trudged slowly back inside made her curse her super-sensitive hearing – knowing her future predicament, the last thing she needed to hear was a recital of household supplies such as dusting-leaves and fluff-grass; _least of all when I'm going to be the only thing he'll be working on tonight!_

Still, overall the bat couldn't deny a certain feeling of irony as she slipped into the bedroom she shared with her husband and shut the door behind her, eyeing the bed and its four posts with an ever-increasing mixture of trepidation and anticipation; her relationship with Knuckles had begun in this room over what might have been considered a deranged sort of bet that he'd lost on that occasion, surely it was karma that meant this time the boot was on the other foot and it was her turn to be reduced to helpless giggles while unable to do anything to alleviate the torture. _At least this time_; as always even the darkest of clouds held a silver lining, one that caused the bat to give the first of many, many chuckles she was sure Knuckles would hear from her after he got back; _he said I could keep my shoes on_. It was something she could only hope he would hold to, but hope was better than nothing she reasoned as she unclipped her jumpsuit and stepped out of it, kicking off her boots as it fell to the floor around her and belly-flopping onto the bed in her socks and underwear. Rolling onto her back she examined the ceiling for a minute after realising she was going to be seeing a lot of it tonight, though possibly a little blurrily though tears of laughter, before she smiled slightly; _well, if nothing else it'll be an experience – they said from my notes I was supposed to have the highest mental resilience in my graduating class, one of the things that made me a spy – time to see if I've still got it._

The thought of her old employment gave her a little strength as she stretched on the blankets, lifting her head to get used to the view from the position she was fairly certain her husband was going to make sure she stayed in for the foreseeable future. She sighed again; like most things it was both better and worse than she'd feared, though upon hearing the front door open and swing shut again she sat up and stretched off a little, not wanting to run the risk of cramp during the night of delirious torment she'd signed up to at Knuckles' hands; _after all_; her oft-ignored and belittled sense of fair play raised its voice to chime in at this point;_ he never really ruins my fun when I pull one over on him, guess it's only fair I do the same._ Despite such noble intentions however, it was all she could do to stop herself curling into a ball as she saw her husband framed in the doorway and, even more alarmingly, the number of soft, feathery things he'd accumulated in such a short space of time; _nothing below the ankles Knuckles. God if you're listening..._; making a silent plea to any deity that might have been remotely interested, the bat felt her heart start to race a little at the sight of the guardian's shark-like smile; _...let him at least remember that much_.

"Sure you're ready for this Rouge?" It was a tease, a line she knew she had no choice but to bite on regardless of the barb she could see it was containing; almost before she realised it she was lying back down on the bed and kicking the covers off completely before fully stretching out all six of her limbs, inviting the punishment like the sucker she must have been at heart. Keeping up appearances however, the bat smiled as though she'd thought the whole thing through to get precisely this result with a confidence she certainly didn't feel, especially not as she saw Knuckles wind something thin and sinuous around his arm and realising that in a few minutes it was going to be wrapped around her own limbs,

"Oh you bet I am", despite her fears, the smile never left her lips as Knuckles moved over to her with what she could now see were a quartet of recently-cut vines in his hands; she kept her gaze straight ahead, almost zoning out as her vision fixed on a single knothole in the ceiling to avoid thinking about what was going on to the rest of her as the echidna went pacing around the bed, occasionally pausing to fiddle with something out of her eyeshot. She almost shivered as she felt something soft brush against the naked skin on her left hand but her iron will dispelled the tremor that ran through her; no matter how much her stomach was churning with nerves and worry, the bat made sure her limbs were straight as rods as Knuckles continued his work methodically, making her feel soft touches on each of her ankles and wrists successively.

Despite herself she had to grudgingly admit that he did a reasonable job for an amateur; if it weren't for a little twinge of pain when he accidently pulled the creeper too tight around her right ankle and the obvious fact that once Knuckles stood up and nodded at his handiwork she found moving her arms and legs impossible she'd never have known she was being restrained at all. Struggle as she might, Rouge realised she wasn't going anywhere and fought down the resultant spike in adrenaline as she realised what that meant by trying to focus on something positive; _though he didn't tie my wings down at least – big help that is_; the thought gave her some comfort until she reminded herself of her predicament and snorted; what use was being able to fly when you were flat on your back? Knuckles, who had just taken a seat on the edge of the bed, heard the muffled laughter and misinterpreting that as a signal that she was ready and resigned to her fate for the night; _good, I've been waiting to get even with you for this almost since the day we got together batgirl_; he didn't even bother to mask his thoughts as he looked down at the implements he'd brought back with him before shifting his gaze downwards to the helpless, gorgeous form of his wife, scowling lightly as, mustering the last of her nerves, she stuck her tongue out at him teasingly. He could see, however, she was nervous, as was he if he were honest with himself; this was the first time in his life he'd ever beheld Rouge as anything other than his equal, or even slight superior though he'd deny that fact to the death; the fact she was now by her own consent all but reliant on nothing more than his whims and graces for release and survival both excited and terrified him in equal measure.

Breathing in he realised this was doing neither of them any good; yes he'd wanted to get a little payback on his wife for what he still considered to be a cheap shot since before they'd even been partners never mind married, but them both being scared like this was going to do more harm than good regardless of what he did next. He was still for a moment, hearing the bat breathing heavily by the side of him and closed his eyes; _no smart quip, she really is nervous about this whole thing_. He had to do something to reassure both of them and there was only one thing that sprang immediately to mind; removing his gloves, he reached over and placed his fingertips in the palm of his wife's closest hand. Her whole body bucked at the unexpected contact as though a static shock had run through her; Knuckles kept his hand where it was, however, the contact, similar to the simple gesture of holding hands that had launched their relationship properly, seemed to earth the tension out of the pair of them. The guardian felt his heart rate steady and his confidence return as a new sensation flooded up his arm; Rouge had closed her fingers around his own and, feeling her squeeze his hand, he suddenly knew everything was going to be all right, regardless of how much hell he put her through before the morning dawned.

The echidna kept his hand where it was for a moment before gently easing it out of his wife's' grip and trailing it lightly down her body, caressing the bats' skin softly and seeing every tremor, every twitch that raced over her flesh as his fingers continued their journey down her arm, across her side, dipping inwards over her stomach and hips before finishing its travels by flying over her thigh, knee and ending halfway down her shin. Savouring the sensation of his wife's lithe form under his hand for a second, Knuckles shook himself down and smiled, half to himself and half to Rouge, before slowly picking out a few of his previously stocked supplies to break the ice with, just enough to nibble at and worry down the bat's defences before he really got serious. Seeing his attention shift from the corner of her eye the bat tried a last-ditch gamble to gain a few more precious seconds' breathing room, conveniently ignoring the fact that it wouldn't help the second Knuckles started teasing her properly,

"Aww, I liked that Knucks", she gave as much of a playful wiggle as she was able to in her circumstances, "could you do it again, pwease?" He glanced back over his shoulder and she thought she'd got away with it, only for the guardian to crush that fledgling hope before it could really get off the ground,

"Oh don't worry batgirl, I will", he held a dusting-leaf up to his eye-level, not bothering to hide his grin as he saw the bat shudder, "though maybe next time I won't just use my hand". _I tried the cuteness trick last time and got away with it, just – no chance I'm letting you try the same thing before I'm done. Payback's a nightmare Rouge, and this is coming at you_; he locked gazes with his wife for a second and smiled, inwardly cackling like a madman when he saw that despite her outwards composure there was a hint of fear in her beautiful eyes – it was a good fear though, a fear of the known rather than the unexpected he'd seen earlier as now it was all real to her that she wasn't going to be able to stop what he was going to do to her just as he had been similarly helpless the previous year following her trickery and sleight of hand; _full bore and with interest!_

Rouge could only internally cringe, her eyes tracing every move as the echidna began flicking a blade of fluff-grass just in her eye sight under her nose – she tried to zone out again just as she had when the echidna had first bound her down what seemed like hours but was at most moments ago but such attempts were defeated when the grass bud kept darting in and caressing her skin, minor tickling to throw her off-balance; _this is it then – I was always afraid Knuckles would kill me, but I didn't think I'd die laughing!_ At the sheer absurdity of such a thought occurring to her now of all times some devil of mischief pricked the bat enough to seize hold of her tongue for an instant and get the last word in, sealing her punishment once and for all,

"I beat you at this last time Knuxie", the hypnotic movement of the white-budded grass stem stopped, Rouge looking past it to smile right in her husbands' eye, "I suppose it's only fair I get a handicap in the rematch". _Oh did you just ask for it_; irked by the reminderKnuckles merely quirked an eyebrow before deciding he couldn't wait any longer; without another word he lowered the strand of grass down to its first major target, the taut skin of Rouge's stomach fluttering as he rotated the soft head of the grass in her navel,

"Oh is that so batgirl", he asked conversationally, watching on in glee as the bat's face scrunched up and her grin stretched ever wider in a bid to quell her laughter as the speed of the rotations increased, the sensation became ever more unbearable, "well then, wouldn't it be just churlish of me to spurn your accommodating nature?"

"Eeee...", the dam was at breaking point with one strand working on her belly; when the second fluff-grass stalk she hadn't seen swiped down her ribcage like someone playing a xylophone it was breached hopelessly, "...hehehehe!"

"You know", his tone was still conversational but there was no denying the grin on Knuckles' lips as he tossed aside one of the pieces of grass he was holding, massaging the bat's soft skin with his fingers to pile the pressure on her already fractured reserves, making the former spy laugh out loud and squirm helplessly the same way he had once before, "that's just what I was thinking; anything else you'd like to add?" He stopped, just enough for Rouge to gasp back enough breath and desire to glare up at him, fire in her eyes, and make a declaration, heedless of the risk,

"Do your worst!"

It was an invitation Knuckles made sure she never got a second chance to make for the rest of the night, through one means or another.

XXX

Waking up in the morning was a surreal experience for someone as usually alert and, if she was honest, downright paranoid as everyone believed her to be.

Sliding back her eyelids, Esprana could have almost sworn she was still asleep; the walls of her bedroom were slowly pulsing towards and away from her in time with her breathing, she was still warm and comfortable despite seeing from the frost on the windowsill that the night had been unusually bitter and cold, but the weirdest thing of all was that regardless of her physical circumstances, her mind was for once as serene and at ease as the scene around her. Flickering her gaze around the room itself to try and put a few more pieces of the puzzle into place, the chameleon sifted through her mind to try and work out why she was feeling this way only for her chest to suddenly contract painfully, squeezing her heart and forcing the breath from her lungs as she remembered the very one-way conversation she'd had with one half of her employer team the previous afternoon.

_I never knew_; that admission rankled somewhat – the chameleon had always prided herself on having at least some idea of what was going on the minds of everyone she knew and met on a regular basis but Knuckles' declaration earlier had simply torpedoed her right out the water; _he was planning that, and Rouge had a hand in it too I suppose – nothing Knuckles does gets done easily without his wife finding out_. Strangely, rather than scoffing at the notion of dependence on another as she usually would have done Esprana instead gave a small, slight smile at the mental image of the pair of guardians working together to overcome their problems rather than toiling on alone, though the image did raise the question or exactly how much Rouge knew of her circumstances – how much of what his bloodline had told him had Knuckles shared with the bat? Did she know of the ninjas' previous masochistic tendencies or was she unaware of them, thinking only that Knuckles had decided to nominate her for the position of responsibility for his little brother? _Something I'll have to find out later I guess_; filing it to the back of her mind the chameleon stretched an arm out over the covers and threw them back, aiming to get out of bed and start the day, though what she was quite going to do with it she wasn't quite sure.

As always the first order of the morning was actually getting up, swiftly followed by getting dressed; though she didn't like to admit it and still preferred to walk around as nature intended her to when it wasn't her time, in cold weather like the chill she was emerging into Esprana wasn't above admitting the fact that clothes did have their advantages in keeping in precious heat. Pulling up her gloves after resolutely refusing to back eye contact with the back of her hands, the chameleon stretched up, yawned and headed downstairs, rubbing her eyes as she opened her bedroom door only to have to stifle a sudden snort of laughter; obvious not everyone was awake just yet if the thunderous snores emanating from the shared bedroom were anything to go by. _One thing I didn't miss about moving rooms_; though for some strange reason the actual act of vacating the room she had shared with Vector had made her chest ache and force her to fight back sudden tears as she made the trip back and forth between the two bedrooms, there were a few advantages to having the privacy of her own living space again; _the fact it feels like I'm not sleeping in the middle of an artillery barrage any more being one of them I guess. I wonder how Charmy's putting up with it._ The question occurred to her and, after pondering it while brushing her teeth, she decided to file it away until she caught up with the bee again. Towelling her face down the chameleon stared ahead only to freeze momentarily, staring forwards at a face she knew, but no longer recognised any more.

_It looks like me_; the idea made her smile slightly, though the expression was slightly forlorn as she did so, moving closer to the bathroom mirror and peering deeper, scrutinising her reflection as her right hand moved up to touch her own face; _but why does it feel like it's not any more? Can I really flip around that much, that quickly – I didn't think it was possible, hell up until Vec and the others went all voodoo on me and made that freaky blood-pact thing I didn't want to change. Now this_; the chameleon on the mirror sighed, Esprana feeling the same heaviness on her mind as she tried, like she had so many times before, to make sense of it all; _I don't recognise me any more, at least not all of me. There's still some of him left_; and it was true, old fragments of the mask she had hidden behind for almost half her life still clung to her face, body and personality like a persistent parasite, Espio refusing to completely give up his grip and flake away into the past where she was sure he now belonged; _but there won't be much longer – there's someone else involved in this damn mess now so I can't have him messing it up, not any more._

That much at least was true; despite her grudging admittance of Espios' strengths, and there were several of them regardless of his misogynistic outlook on life, in a situation like this she could see her former personality would be violently, hopelessly out of his depth. He'd never cared for anyone other than the Chaotix in his life, and even then if their goals clashed too badly with his, he would have been certain to pick himself every time, so how he would have reacted to a young baby being thrust into his life she didn't want to image. With a shuddering sigh she broke her gaze away from the mirror, shaking herself down as she stepped out of the bathroom and headed for the steps; _Espio wouldn't have any idea, but the point is neither do I – not yet, anyway_; she just hoped it was something you picked up as you went along as she knew she would be able to learn fast, especially, she realised as her ears picked up a faint droning noise emanating from the kitchen, as she had others to fall back on now,

"Hey", as she poked her head around the door a honey-striped abdomen zipped backwards, Charmy glancing across to the kitchen door before his eyes brightened and he waved at the chameleon with the cereal box he'd liberated from the cupboard,

"Oh, hey Esp, sleep okay?"

"Better than average", was her non-committal reply as she moved from the doorway to the table, flopping down in a seat and casting her eye back towards the younger member of the Chaotix, "you?"

"Heh, out like a light as always", the bee chortled as he flew over, bowl and spoon in one hand and cereal box in the other as he hooked a chair out with his feet, "just as well with the earth-shaker next to me; honestly, what's he got stuffed up those nostrils of his, bazookas?"

"It really wouldn't surprise me", Esprana commented dryly before seeing Charmy start; before she could ask what the matter was he'd set down his condiments and taken to the air again, addressing her from above this time,

"Sorry Esp, rude of me not to ask – you want anything before I sit down, and don't say you'll get it yourself"; _heard that one too many times before_; the bee held up a hand and his breath simultaneously as he saw the chameleon look to stand up again, letting the latter out slowly as he saw her relax again, "I know what you're capable of but right now I'm up and about, you've just got comfortable and it just makes sense for things to be done that way. You want some of that cereal you always eat?" _Shredded cardboard_; he added quietly in the back of his mind, inwardly retching at the vile taste of the foul gloop the chameleon seemed to enjoy every morning and holding in a shudder as she nodded her head,

"Yeah, thanks Charmy, I could do with some breakfast", she admitted, settling herself back down with a gentle snort as the bee buzzed away from her, "I've got a morning to kill before I get to work, might as well get some housework done before our resident mess-machine gets his act into gear".

"True enough, though that was a good thing you did last night Esp"; _it wasn't that great_; the chameleon tried to put an apathetic look on her face but, if you looked hard enough, it wouldn't be impossible to see a glimmer of pride in her face as the bee carried on, "Might's not had any time off for a while now, nice of you to take her shift like that".

"Nice of Tails to take her down", Espio riposted lackadaisically before a small smile slipped over her face, "he only came here to drop off a pack of batteries, ended up leaving with one armadillo and a very-quickly packed travel-bag in tow. Though let's be honest she deserves some time off; I know she's not seen Big at least since Christmas and, let's face it", much as she didn't like to rub her own face in her past conceited selfishness, there was no denying that what she said now was in any way untrue, at least in her own mind, "I certainly owe her a few". _Wish it wasn't true like, but there it is_; the armadillo, like the others, had stepped in and helped her while she'd been _hors de combat_ so it was only right now that she help return the favour. Taking up an extra shift to make sure that Mighty would have a free weekend with her boyfriend on the world below was not a big deal as far as she could see, it was no skin off her nose, but...her reverie was interrupted by a pair of sudden bangs. Looking up startled, she found herself regarding Charmy's stern visage, the bee folding his arms as he fluttered back to the floor following his delivering breakfast for the two of them,

"Be that as it may Esp good is still good; don't do yourself down", lecture over, the insect let his face brighten as he eagerly grabbed the box of his favourite cereal, gave it a good-luck shake and began tipping a healthy measure into his bowl, "still, apart from that, plans for the morning?" She shrugged,

"Not much – get some housework done before Vec rolls out of bed like I mentioned, maybe watch some TV; anything you know good on?" As she'd expected, the bee smirked at the question,

"Yep, Saturday morning is cartoon morning, even up in this neck of the woods", he grinned happily, still perfectly able to appreciate a half-hour of fantasy entertainment despite his recent maturity into adulthood, "nothing too bad on, though most of the shows up here come in series; miss one and you're left a bit out of the loop so to speak, but it's nothing you'll be too bothered about". Knowing the chameleon didn't watch much in the way of television Charmy wasn't surprised to hear no follow up to his question; what did surprise him, however, was the sudden pressure he felt from the cereal box just before he put it down. Looking across in alarm, his mouth all but fell open as he saw Esprana idly slip the top of the box open and upend it gradually over her own dish, the rustle and tinkle of sugar-imbued flakes rattling loud in the bees' ears as he watched his team mate prepare her breakfast,

"What?" The voice was stern but not altogether unkind – realising he was staring Charmy just about managed to blink himself to the present as Esprana smiled sharkily, "I just felt like a change".

"Uhh..." it was a mark of how out of the bathtub this behaviour was that it took the bee several seconds for his tongue to catch up with his mind, "...I, er, I guess so, but don't make too much of one", he mentioned with a smirk, "if you're not used to it that stuff'll send you bouncing off the walls worse than me after a friendly start-up punt from Vector. Go half-and-half, believe me it'll be too sweet for you otherwise" .

The chameleon seemed to consider this for a minute before nodding, scooping some of the cereal back into the packet with short movements before reaching out again and topping the bowl up with her usual order. Satisfied, she accepted the milk Charmy had finished with and saturated her cereal with it before digging in; the two ate in companionable silence though, as always, Charmy finished first; though Vector was indisputably the dustbin of the four-Mobian team, there was no denying that the bee could always run him close in how quickly he could polish off a meal, if not how much he could actually put away. Pushing his chair back with a happy sigh, the bee rolled to his feet and headed for the sink, quickly rinsing his bowl under the tap and getting ready to make hasty exit to work,

"Well Esp, have a good morning and I'll see you later; let me know if you need a hand to lever him out of bed later". Despite herself the chameleon smirked at the joke,

"I'm sure it'll go fine once he gets going under his own power; anyway", Charmy couldn't quite duck fast enough as the ninjas' hand whipped out and messed up his stylishly-coiffed antenna; _damn it, it took me ages to get them to curl that way!_; "good luck on your shift, anything out the ordinary, you know where we are".

"As if I could forget", the bee muttered mutinously under his breath as his hands attempted to salvage something even vaguely presentable from the ruins his team mate had left on top of his head; _nope, not going to get any better than that_. Darkly irritated by Espranas' ill-timed pang of humour, the bee took a gamble and darted in quickly, flicking the side of her horn with a finger before jumping away, smirking in vindication as he saw her eyes track him movements with an irked scowl on her lips,

"Don't look at me like that; as they say in the comics, vengeance is mine"; _and more to the point I got away with it without getting my arm ripped off in the process_; "have a good morning Esp, see you later on". Still fingering her horn with irritation, the martial artist threw her companion a scathing glance before sighing,

"Get out of here buzz-boy; if I don't see you before the afternoon it'll be too soon". Hearing no malice in her tone the bee merely smirked, amused that he'd gotten under her skin with such ease; with Espio it would have been impossible to tempt such a normal, healthy reaction to a joke to the surface – he'd have buried the so-called 'insult' beneath the surface and taken his vengeance later at a more opportune time. Charmy took his leave, smiling under his hand as he did so and grateful that Esp appeared not to be stewing too much on his quick revenge trip and deducing that he should be pretty safe from reprisals.

That wouldn't stop him checking his pillows and under his bed before he went to sleep though, just in case.

XXX

"You do of course realise", as the slightly hoarse but still richly threatening voice floated across to him Knuckles couldn't help but turn his head away from the hot water he was washing the pans in and smirk back across the living room, "that the payback for last night is going to be legendary, in fact no scratch that, it's going to be Biblical?"

"I'm counting on it", the echidna replied, watching as his wife leant against the doorframe trying to look disproving through slightly bloodshot eyes despite the small, almost inexistent smile that flitted around her lips, "though judging by the state of you I'd say I've got some breathing room before your nefarious little mind swings into gear". The bat snorted, pushing herself off the doorframe to stand upright and glare with her hands on her hips, the dressing gown she'd swung over her body swaying a little until she pulled it down tighter,

"Breathing room; that's more than I got last night Knuxie – I think I almost passed out screaming a couple of times..."

"Oh for, if all spies as whinging as you are how the hell does the government keep any secrets", even with soap suds staining his unloved hands Knuckles managed to look supremely disproving as he shot down Rouge's fledgling complaints, "it was just tickling batgirl, and anyway", even while condescending he managed to look at least partially pleased with himself, "if you did pass out I doubt it was while you were screaming, or at least, screaming with laughter". The bats' cheeked pinkened at the reminder that the previous evening, while mostly a continuous cycle of tortures and mocking words in her ear as she was helpless to block them out, had had occasional peaks of pleasure to even out the pain; even as her face heated up however, at the same time her tongue was sharpened ready to begin clawing back the advantage she'd squealed away over the past few hours,

"Be that as it may you are for the high jump later Knuckles, believe that if you believe nothing else I say", the bat promised viciously, pointing at him with an accusing finger, "and no matter what you say or do to me I am never calling you 'champ' in this lifetime – a promise made under duress is not something I'm being bound to".

At the reminder Knuckles smirked and chuckled a little himself; the idea itself had come completely out of the blue and he could only guess it had occurred to him when he was remembering the craziness Rouge had forced onto him the previous year. It had been a long, slow but ultimately satisfying process to finally grind the bat down until, exhausted and bathed in perspiration, Rouge had finally admitted the truth as he saw it in exchange for the promise of a two-minute break. The memory of her snarling face crumbling into another fit of strained, slightly exhausted laughter as he ran a dusting leaf and a couple of fingers along the back of one of her knees after cavorting around the bedroom wringing his hands in triumph at her admission was one that would remain with him, he was sure, for the rest of his days,

"Oh and why would that be Woogekins? You said it yourself; I am the better martial artist out the two of us, though there's no reason why I couldn't drag you up my level if you're willing to put the effort in". The bat folded her arms, pride pricked painfully at his reminder; _why did I even say that – no matter what he did to me there was no way I should have snapped and given him that much of a rod for my back_;

"I'd rather drag you down to the level I was at last night, and if it were up to me I'd make sure you never got back up Knuckles; you tickled me for hours, I was never that cruel".

"Hours?" The guardian snorted again; obviously his wife was still delirious and a full nights' sleep hadn't quite solved the problem of her faulty memory, "It was one and a half hours at most, one-fifteen more likely and even then I let you off easy – you got more breaks than I could have even dreamed about". The bats' arms dropped at the same time her mouth did; how dare he make light of her suffering like that?

"You, you...", there wasn't an insult in the world damning enough to impart even a fraction of her ire to her spouse, "...how _can _you say something like that with a straight face? I was, that was utter hell for most of the night, if I could snatch a breath half the time I was lucky and...", her finger extended towards him, a lethal spear of female indignation as her damning words proclaimed her judgement and found him most unworthy, "...you broke your promise!"

XXX

That made Knuckles smile inside, though he was very careful to keep his face neutral as he relived the memories immediately living up to those moments; though Rouge either didn't remember it or was actively blocking it from her memory to spite him, the echidna was perfectly certain that though he had indeed breached their agreement, he'd done so only after asking for and obtaining her permission for such an act. He and the bat had actually discussed a few things the previous evening both while and after she had been unable to do much but talk back to him, though admittedly he'd had a bit of an advantage in the first section of the negotiations insofar as if Rouge disagreed with something he could and did use a little 'persuasion' to ease her round to his way of thinking. It had been during one of these talking points, while he'd been absent-mindedly swirling a finger around the nearest side of her ribcage just to keep her smiling while he spoke and to put a bit of a giggle into her voice when she tried to reply, that he'd asked if having her feet touched was really that bad for her. Her expression had made him stop tickling for the moment, instead leaning over to kiss her gently on the lips for a minute and apologise; he hadn't meant to startle her like that and he wasn't about to exploit that phobia, only for him to sit back up and glower, rearing both hands back to plunge straight into her vulnerable stomach; there he was taking an active interest in her welfare and all she was doing was laughing at him for it?

Well so be it, he decided; if she wanted to laugh he'd oblige her – only her panicked shout stilled his vengeance just long enough to be heard out. As it was, once they discussed things a little further, the bat had confided in him that it wasn't a phobia, or an irrational hatred, it was just that no-one had really tickled her before and she wasn't sure if she could handle it. Of course, that doubt just existed to be erased and the two of them, as they had ever since their relationship had begun, had tested and pushed their boundaries again; though it had driven her to tears and pleading Rouge was able to tolerate a little tickling on her feet, though Knuckles was always careful never to drive her to a virtual seizure as he had once before – it had almost shattered his mind that he'd done it once before and he would be damned to any kind of hell before he pushed her that hard again. It was all part of the learning process, and after he was finished and gently untied her, the way the bat had sprung into his arms and nearly devoured his face with a ferocious, unbridled kiss was enough to let him know that he'd made a good decision and now knew a way that was guaranteed to drive his wife wild.

"Maybe but, if I remember rightly and I'm sure I do, you gave me the nod to do it, and you didn't mind it all that much".

"Minded it – oh believe me I minded it a lot", the bat shot back before at least some of her ire seemed to drain away and she leant against the doorframe, voice dropping a little as something like a confession was dragged grudgingly from her lips, "what came afterwards, perhaps not so much; but either way", just like that she was back on the front foot, finger thrust forwards with Knuckles reeling slightly, "if you think I'm going to let this go Knuxie, believe me..."

Unfortunately what she expected her husband to believe was taken out of her hands by a sudden, loud crashing from the front door that made both guardians jump. Pausing for a second to ensure Rouge had enough time to retreat into the bedroom, Knuckles moved towards the door and, when he was sure the bedroom door was securely fastened, he pulled the front door open and leapt backwards just in time to avoid having his chest caved in by an inadvertent punch from the one echidna on Angel Island more intimidating than himself,

"Sixth-father", addressed by his title Thunderhawk nodded as he let himself in by moving through the space Knuckles had vacated in his desire to avoid a fist-induced heart attack this early in the morning, "to what do we owe the pleasure?"

"That depends", the older guardian stated gruffly, looking around and immediately drawing a line between the sink of hot water and the soap bubbles on his distant descendants' hands, though mercifully he kept any thoughts of 'woman's' work' away from his lips, "I'm here on behalf of the others, something's come up and Haven and we were wondering if you and Rouge would be able to help us out a little".

"Ah", once more Knuckles' eyes shot the bedroom door, further cementing the ideas in his sixth-fathers head as he tried to come up with a plausible excuse for one of them not being ready, "well I am, unfortunately Rouge hasn't had such a good morning; Sonic and Amy were over last night and I think we all might have overdone the wine a touch". Thunderhawk sighed, shaking his head,

"Such a shame, no tolerance for fine liquor in the young these days", he lamented before seeming to start; before Knuckles could question him though he'd already spoken, "Amy; the child of thorns returned again?"

"Please don't call her that; as far as she's concerned, and the rest of us are too for that matter, she's Amy Rose, always has been and always will be – that whole Dimitri fiasco is buried in the past where it belongs. Besides, I heard Sabre mention it last time I bumped into him in town, the Legion's apparently been a real boon to his profession; the understanding of prosthetic limbs has gone through the roof since they showed back up".

"True, but we're keeping an eye on them just in case", Thunderhawk warned, though he looked somewhat mollified by the guardians' explanation, "still, she's still with that blue hedgehog, Sonic wasn't it?"

"Unfortunately" a voice echoed through the bedroom door, forcing Knuckles to mask a smile while his sixth-father didn't bother trying,

"I take it he doesn't meet with your approval Rouge?"

"Not since last night"; _oh no_; for a brief second Knuckles was rooted to the spot with the fear that Rouge was going to reveal all about just what Sonic had forced her into last night; _I'd never be able to look any of them in the eye again_; "it's his fault I'm feeling like hell now".

"Fair enough, but don't blame him for your mistakes batgirl"; _phew_; the current guardian let out a silent breath of relief as it seemed Thunderhawk had leapt to the wrong conclusion following the bats' intentionally misleading words, "he wasn't pouring the bottle down your neck; you can always say no"; _not to me she couldn't though_; Knuckles just about managed to wipe the smug look off his face before Thunderhawk turned back to him suddenly and spoke again,

"Still, seeing as she's out the picture, looks like this will be a truly family affair then Knuckles – are you feeling up for a quick game of look-for-the-lunatic?"

It took a few seconds for the guardian to actually process what his ancestor had asked in this case but, when the light bulb did ignite behind his eyes, it was accompanied with a gasp that was equal parts amusement and incredulity,

"He got out _again?_" Despite himself, Thunderhawk chuckled,

"Oh he went one better than that this time; he left us a note", he exclaimed, withdrawing a thin roll of paper from inside his left glove and handing it over to his sixth-son. Knuckles casually unrolled it and, surreptitiously raising his voice so Rouge could listen in, recited the written words of his at least half-insane great-grandfather,

_Dear other-oldies,_

_Just nipped out for a breath of fresh air; it's too stuffy down here and there's not enough air for us all to share flying space in. If you need anything just call me._

_Bee (buzzzz! Hmm, I wonder if I can get my fur to go the same colour as little Charmer's – it'd look so much better than this boring brown) Back Soon_

_Athair_

"Umm, right", Knuckles chose his words carefully, rolling the parchment back up as though the crazy it contained was potentially infectious, "any idea...?"

"None whatsoever", Thunderhawk cut the question off with a weary sigh, "standard clause Spectre insists on; he gets three strikes before we track down and seal off the hole he's been crawling out of, unless he really does something that puts dad on peptic ulcer alert. The last time he managed that we were lucky the EST weren't hauling us over the coals for his indecent exposure in the Silver Sea; it's the closest I've ever seen the quack-boy come to loading up his tranq gun". Going on past history, Knuckles was willing to take a guess at the rest,

"Athair really wanted to stay out then?"

"No, Spectre really wanted to kill him and that was about the only thing we had that would have calmed him down", the purple echidna replied in a perfect deadpan, "how he calmed himself down I don't know but I wouldn't have stopped him, in fact I'd have probably lent him a hand". Struggle as he might to agree outright, some scrap of loyalty to the almost non-existent inner child Knuckles still possessed and that Athair magnified in anyone unfortunate to be in close proximity to him forced him to act as devil's advocate and stick up for the flying member of the Brotherhood,

"He's not been too bad so far though; he came back on his own last time didn't he?" _True, though I'm almost certain that's one of the reasons dad wants him back so quickly this time – he must be leading up to something big_; scrupulously keeping such worrisome musings off his face, Thunderhawk contented himself with a dismissive shrug,

"That he did, though why we've got no idea. Still", he clapped his hands to bring the attention back to the matter in hand, "as you know what Athair does today will probably be forgotten by this time yesterday as he'd say; don't look at me like that, it's one of his quotes, I've heard him use it; so we'll have to get out there and try to track him down".

"Hang on", a muffled shout from the bedroom brought both echidnas up short, "why don't you just call him; he said that in his letter". _Should have known that was coming_; Thunderhawk thought wryly to himself as he rolled his eyes and answered,

"He doesn't have a communication disc".

"Then how...in fact, don't answer that", the bat remembered the subject of the conversation and wisely fell silent, though unfortunately she'd already left herself open for arguably the two worst wind-up merchants in the guardian family to have a pop,

"Sixth-son", Thunderhawk's tone was heavy with gravitas even if his face and expression, both mirrored by his descendent apart from the difference in fur colour, belied the implied seriousness, "remind me again why you married that one? We guardians are strong, healthy and dangerous, but it'll be a sad day for our lineage when the next guardian relies on his father for brains".

"Grandfather, how can you ask something like that; believe it or not Rouge does have a brain, and a very astute one at that, she just doesn't exercise it much", Knuckles asked in mock-horror, already smirking as he fancied he could hear Rouge's teeth grinding even through the door between them, " and as for why I married her, I thought that would have been obvious to any man that looked at her", he left a fractional pause, just long enough to let both his audience think he was sticking up for the ex-spy before dropping the final nail in that coffin,

"Great body and fantastic in bed".

A split-second later both echidnas rocketed out of the front door of the guardians' home, their heels being snapped at by all the curses and swear-words only someone with a career in government agencies could muster together, let alone deliver effectively, most of them aimed at the subject of the next guardian and how Rouge would be taking several, mostly painful, steps to jeopardise her husband's ability to expand the Brotherhood of Guardians further. As they ran further into the wilds of the island and began their hunt to return their missing relative to the fold, Knuckles smirked evilly as Thunderhawk, still chortling as the brass neck he'd stuck out in making that declaration, slung an arm around his shoulders and squeezed lightly,

"That's my boy!"

"Yeah", the guardian nodded, some of his wife's words belatedly coming back to haunt him and making him suppress a wince of phantom agony, "though something tells me this is going to be more than a bouquet and box of chocolates job. Any chance of a bed for the night in Haven, just in case?"

XXX

_O...kay..._; seeing the natural disaster stalking towards him like a tank out of control Charmy managed to slap an indifferent look over the frantic storm that had been whipped up in his mind; _...mouth shut, eyes forward and don't say anything stupid and you should walk out of this alive...maybe_;

"Hey Rouge", his tentative greeting was brushed aside, just as he was a few seconds later, scooting over to the side as the bat stomped up the steps to the Master Emerald, hopping up the last step and twisting in the air to take a seat on the greatest treasure known to man or Mobian. Seeing the signs before him and trying to fit the pieces together, Charmy did some rapid mental maths; _right, she's upset over something, probably Knuckles as she's sat on the M.E. rather than the steps – it's not a I-wish-you'd-just-drop-dead expression, kind of similar but a bit worse than a you-really-put-your-foot-in-it-this-time-and-I'll-need-some-pampering-before-you're-back-in-my-good-books-again look – hmm, not as bad as it could have been all things considered_. Realising that the longer the bat was left to stew in her own juices the more likely he was to get scalded when he was forced to nudge the kettle of her emotional state, the bee decided to cross his fingers and put forth into the water another tentative toe,

"Hey bat-girl", her eyes tracked towards him like a ballista on a gazelle; before the deadly bolt could be shot the bee continued quickly, "what brings you here?" The bat kept her cold, flinty eyes on him long enough to force sweat on the back of his neck and a cheesy grin onto his lips before, finally, a sly smile broke out on her face like a rainbow across a storm cloud,

"Well I was going to say I'd come to have a righteous sulk, but now I'm on a recruitment drive"; _okay, I'm afraid – couldn't you just go back to the sulking and leave me out of this?_; of course, there was no such luck for the bee as Rouge continued along the single track of her thought with all the determination of a steam-train, "Knuckles has annoyed me for the last time and he's going to pay for it Charm – you are now my assistant in making sure he gets his, understand?"

"There's no...didn't think there was", the expression she'd flashed his way was answer enough for that doomed question, "so, what's on your mind?"

"Not sure yet but believe me it'll be something big", the bat confirmed confidently, a normal smile back on her face as myriad plots and plans to get Knuckles back under her thumb where he belonged flashed through her mind. However her musings were cut short when her newly-appointed minion appeared to get ahead of himself by asking a question,

"Any chance I get to know what he's done?"

"He...", Rouge paused for a minute as she considered the question; in the end she decided to settle on a half-truth as there was no way she wanted the bee to know the _whole_ story of what had occurred the previous night, "...he said something very rude about me in front of Thunderhawk – I think 'fantastic body and great in bed' were his exact words. Of course", she sighed as she saw Charmy fighting desperately to keep a grin off his face at her words, "you can imagine how well that went down with my sixth-father-in-law, he likes a joke as much as I do".

"True, though I have to say that the first part of what he said was actually true", the bee commented, Rouge glaring at the back-handed compliment before Charmy was able to mollify her with the second comment, "though I agree with you, the latter part was a low blow, and coming from me that's saying something".

"Very true; if you were any shorter your hair would smell like feet", the former spy quipped, shrugging off the bees' attempted death-glare before trying to focus both their minds on another topic, "saying that though at least you've actually got hair; how's it going for the lizards you bunk with these days?"

She'd been looking for a distraction and she'd struck gold; as Charmy launched himself into a rhapsodic retelling of how much Esprana had been improving and how they had finally managed to prise Vector out of the kitchen cupboard after he'd taken to virtually living in there following the recent dip in temperatures across Angel Island. Listening with half a mind as the other, more analytical side of her personality sifted through the information the bee was feeding her, Rouge determined the situation was improving, certainly as far as the chameleon was concerned; _so now, to see if we can help her take the next step forwards – Wyn's idea was a good one but it might be a leap too far into the dark at the minute for her, I'll have to see if there's a way to get her to open up a touch before either of us suggest it_; deciding to wait for the time being, Rouge tuned back in to the one-sided conversation in time to raise an eyebrow at what, she presumed, was the correct time,

"...but when he tried to shift a blanket down there Mighty put her foot down, literally, on top of his; it took hours before he could walk without limping again", the bee told her with a wicked smirk on his lips, "apart from that though, Esp really is coming on in leaps and bounds. Today she even tried some different cereal, doesn't sound like much I know", he explained hastily seeing the sceptical look in the bat's eyes, "but for someone who's spent as long as I've known them eating shredded wood for breakfast it's a real improvement".

So it would appear", Rouge said delicately, determined to see if there was a way she could gently lever this problem into the open without arousing too much suspicion, "but how's it going elsewhere – she's still at that club she'd started right?" Charmy's brow furrowed for a minute before the questioned germinated in his mind and the answer bloomed in his mind,

"Oh that, yeah she's still going, making quite a good go of it from what I heard though she still hates her nose-clip".

"Nose-clip?"

"Yeah, she has to wear it over her horn in case she gouges someone", the bee explained to answer the bat's half-sardonic, half-disbelieving question, "there's a lot of grappling involved in what she does according to her and she doesn't want to cripple someone accidentally by gouging them".

"Makes sense I suppose", Rouge commented, fishing for some more information as half an idea began to coalesce in her mind, "what other training does she do, aside from the odd job we round you all up for?"

The question seemed to stump Charmy somewhat; for the first time since Rouge had entered the shrine the bee sat forwards, elbows on the inside of his knees and a finger on his lips, thinking hard. The bat left him bee for a minute, doing some brain-work of her own and trying to work out how she could use any information he was able to give her to slip in the knowledge of what was coming in about a month's time, aside from the virtually-immanent birth of her half-brother-in-law,

"Umm, not much as far as I can see; she certainly doesn't play with knives as much as she used to, give thanks for small mercies", the bee winced, almost subconsciously rubbing his shoulder as he did so – the scar on it, while small and completely hidden by the bristles that covered his body, would never be removed, "but she still does her stretching, her exercises, dangling from the ceiling and pulling up from there, you know?" Rouge nodded; she did indeed know of the chameleon's unusual exercise sets as she'd walked in on her practice in the shrine itself, both as Espio and Esprana, "Aside from that, just a couple of other things, reading, oh, her pressure-points and all that; I swear one day I'll find something that makes her fall apart like I do when she get my knee; she found her nunchuka again though, fell back in love with them when we were cleaning the attic and it's been dangerous to barge into her room ever since – a large lump of wood to the cranium usually causes offence and a fair amount of pain".

The chuckle that had been on the bee's lips at the last lame quip withered into nothing he looked up at where Rouge was sitting; though nothing had changed per se, Charmy still couldn't for the life of him find any way of putting a positive spin on the almost predatory look she was favouring him with.

XXX

Obviously, as far as she was concerned, last night hadn't been quite such a bust as she'd believed.

It took a special kind of mind to combine her misfortunes with what sounded like a fairly relaxed training schedule as far as Esprana was concerned; whether possessing such a mind was a good or a bad thing Rouge couldn't quite decided, but she hastily shoved that issue onto the back burner as her latest plan began to whirl around in her mind. Her interest had been piqued at Charmy's mention of the pressure points Esprana was trying to deaden and had simply spiralled from there. Almost without realising it the bat found herself grinning – this would be perfect; now all she had to do was package her idea and slap on a label attractive enough for Charmy to avoid passing up. She made rapid progress on that front but before the finishing touches could be applied, the project was interrupted by someone snapping their fingers in close proximity to the front of her face,

"Rouge", his earlier nerves dissipating as the bat started and lost her glazed look at his interruption, Charmy decided to go with humour and, if that didn't work, run like hell and not look back, "you're starting to scare me, more than usual anyway; what's on your mind, assuming it's safe for a minor to know?"

"The only 'minor' you've ever been is an annoyance", the bat snapped with a irked scowl before her expression broke into a graceful smile and she leant forwards on her seat, "but leaving that aside, I just remembered something; you know echidnas don't have holidays like we do on the world below, they base them around the seasons?"

"Oh you mean the spring equinox festival, the, uh, oh what was it, the New-Life celebration, was that it?" That had Rouge blinking for a second before she recomposed herself, masking a hiss of triumph; this was going better than she'd ever dreamt possible, "Yeah it was in Vec's paper, we told Tails about it, said he'd see what he could do to get time off but he wasn't hopeful – I guess lots of echidnas would want holidays then right?"

"It'd make sense", Rouge commented off-handedly, just about keeping the lid on the excitement bubbling away just under the surface of her calm exterior, "so, the Chaotix got any plans for it?"

"Ah, we'll probably scrape something together; if nothing else one of us should attend?" At this moment the faint tingling of danger that had been scraping at the back of Charmy's neck made him turn to Rouge and look the bat dead in the face, "what's got you interested all of a sudden? Surely your other half's not driven you into TGG's arms already?"

That did made Rouge snigger slightly; love the crocodile as she most certainly did, she knew for a fact that have a relationship with him, whatever happened to Knuckles, was something that just was not going to happen; it was like trying to imagine Big hitting on her – a funny image but completely beyond the bounds of possibility, especially as, far as she knew, the huge purple feline was still head-over-heels for the Charmy's team mate. _Well, he certainly was if the look on Mighty's face was anything to go by last time we got on the topic between us – then again it was a long time since Christmas – absence makes the heart grow fonder and all that_;

"I'd like to say not but the mood I'm in at the minute it'd probably be better if he didn't tempt me..."

"Knuckles or Vector?"

"Neither, and both", Rouge allowed herself to feel an instants' satisfaction at wrong-footing the bee before getting back on track, "but them aside, there's going to be a big street-party and market-like thing for it from what I read. Should be big if nothing else – do you reckon you could get Esp to come out for it?"

This was the crunch of the issue and either way she had a plan ready for it; in some weird way she was actually hoping the bee said no and, as a weary kind of regret flitted over her friends' face it looked like that wish would be granted,

"Well, I'd love to say yes but, I doubt it; don't get me wrong, she's come on so much I barely recognise her these days, but", the bee instinctively defended his absent friend before acting more rationally, "we haven't asked directly, not yet, but I'd put a good bet that she'd say no – it's just too big for her all at once; she not sure how to be around so many people, especially in a place that's probably going to be the equivalent of a city-wide funfair".

"True, very true, but fear not", despite himself Charmy scooted backwards from where he was sat as the bat suddenly sat up straight and brandished a finger straight into the air; in his experience that was a gesture that never boded anything good, "I, the great and wonderful Rouge, have a solution to this particular problem; come forth and heed the words of this great and sage oracle, free of charge I might add".

_Oh this is a horrible, horrible mistake_; despite his misgivings however, the bee felt his body rebel under the effect of his natural insectile curiosity and, despite his better judgement and with a look of implacable dread on his face, sidled slowly up to where the bat was sitting and, as she beckond him forwards, bent an ear to listen as she lifted up the flap of his flying helmet to whisper softly.

XXX

It was, Rouge thought to herself a second after finishing her explanation and watching as Charmy slowly drew his ear away from her lips, an interesting experience to see the bee's face morph through so many emotions at such a rapid pace that she couldn't catalogue them all in time. Shock, ambivalence and outright denial were in there she was sure, but considering what she'd suggested and how far it was out the standard bathtub it was, she was reasonable confident she could make it appealing enough for the bee to give it a go; _well, as long as I choose my words carefully that is_;

"No", Charmy was shaking his head slowly though oddly enough his eyes never left her face, "no, no you didn't..."

"Yes", not bothering to hide her smiling she nodded as the same slow speed he was shaking his head, "yes, yes I did..."

"You're mad; you are completely cuckoo, gone fishing, well and truly over the rainbow and following the yellow-brick road", the bee declared; Rouge merely grinned all the wider, smirking in triumph as he brought his hands up to face, squeezing his fists shut around his eyes as the last few words were dragged from him unwillingly, "and if you're crazy and going along with this than that must make me crazy too".

"Yeah, but believe me once you admit to the madness it makes life so much easier", the bat agreed before slipping off the Master Emerald and slipping an arm around his shoulders, "you reckon you'll need a hand with this?" He shook his head, antenna bobbing over his flying goggles as he did so,

"Nah, mad as you've made me I might as well spread it around; more people for Esp to kill if this goes horribly wrong; should just be a Chaotix job, the others should be well in on it".

"Fair one; now I assume I've got your help when I need to get even with that beloved husband of mine?" The bat couldn't help but laugh as the bee suddenly sprang to attention and snapped up a smart salute,

"At your service my lady; just tell me the time and place and I'll be there – rapier or duelling pistol more appropriate for defending your honour?" Rouge shook with laughter again before her hand shot forwards to ruffle his hairstyle up again, just as Esprana had a few hours ago,

"Hopefully that won't be necessary; make you a deal", Charmy nodded to show his interest and the bat continued, "you make sure that between the lot of you Esprana's ready to go for that equinox festival – I think it would be good for her but, like you said, she needs to be used to it rather than thrown right in at the deep end", despite herself the bat found herself laughing somewhat; something she thought she'd had enough of over the past twenty-four hours, "I never thought I'd say it but fun's like a poison for her; she needs to get used to it in small doses before leading up to the big stuff".

"You know batgirl", Charmy said after a minute of mulling it over in his mind, "that's probably the best description of this whole thing I've ever heard".

"But of course; I was and still am the best of the best don't forget", the bat preened herself precociously before making a shooing gesture with her closest hand, "now, vanish for a bit; I'm overdue a sulk and nothing is going to stop me enjoying it now". She made to turn and hop back onto her former seat, only for a hand to snag the back of her jumpsuit and drag her backwards; looking over her shoulder she was greeted by Charmy's straining face as the puffing bee tried to haul her towards the shrine entrance,

"Not on my watch you're not; I'm not having you lower the tone of this place so you'll just have to take that adorable pout of yours elsewhere. Go into town or something; you said Knuckles was with Thunderhawk didn't you?"

"He is", Rouge confirmed before her face darkened and she ground a fist into her palm, "and if he knows what's good for him it'll stay that way for a long time".

"Fair one, but I'm guessing he left early right?" _Where are you going with this?_; curiosity piqued, the bat nodded slowly,

"Right".

"Early enough to forget a few things? Like his phone", seeing the bat still nod he could see she was a hairs-breadth from figuring it out but, just in case, he decided to give that last little push, "and his wallet...?"

It was a sentence he never finished; before he realised it entirely the shrine was spinning around him as Rouge clasped him to her chest and shook him like a new plushie; aside from the sudden shock and onset of nausea, it was quite a pleasant experience for the young insect. All too soon however he found himself on his feet again, trying to find his balance and keep his breakfast below his oesophagus before Rouge leant down and pecked him lightly on the cheek, the gesture enough to bring all the bee's bodily process save erupting into a furious blush to a grinding halt,

"Thank you, thank you Charm", already visions of what she could do with a couple of hours and a virtually blank check in the streets of Echidnopolis were blurring through Rouge's mind, though truth be told at the top of the list was something for her in-laws; _I know they don't like admitting it but money's a bit tighter than they'd like it to be – oh well, what kind of femme fatale would I be if I didn't show a bit of a heart once in a while?_; "oh this is going to be sweet; Charm I owe you one for this..."

"Then I'm calling it in now", the bee interrupted her rant with a shooing gesture aimed at the door, "get out of here and leave me in peace for a bit; with that insanity you've just planted in my head I've got some serious thinking to do if I want to do this, and even more if I want to survive what Esp does to me afterwards. Why are you still here?" The sudden question made Rouge jump as the bee addressed her, waving her towards the exit with more vigour this time, "Go, go, vamoose, begone, shoo..."

"Alright I get it, and I'm going to get it", the bat smirked as she headed out of the shrine, hands rubbing together and a sing-song tone in her voice, "here money, money, money – come to momma; don't wait up buzz-boy, Echidnopolis isn't going to know what hit it". Chuckling as the bat left, Charmy returned to his post and commenced thinking, the odd snicker escaping his lips as he recalled Rouge's suggestion and now directed his brainpower to making it a reality.

So engrossed was he in his task that it was lucky, at least indirectly, that he'd sent Rouge away; even distracted, the supersonic hearing of the nocturnal species would have been able to catch out the soft snapping noise that originated from the roof of the shrine, a sound not unlike a small twig breaking, or a small, hard impact of flesh meeting flesh as speed.

A/N: Forgive me, forgive me once more but it's done – ah, I need eyedrops and a long lie-down, too...many...screens...


End file.
